


In Search Of Hope

by DDElliott



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Multi, Other, Pre-Star Wars: A New Hope, Science Fiction, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-22
Updated: 2018-12-22
Packaged: 2019-09-24 15:03:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 60,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17102837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DDElliott/pseuds/DDElliott
Summary: In the stort time just before the start of STAR WARS: "A New Hope" comes an epic tale of adventure, suspense and discovery... Follow Ben Kenobi on a journey to find truth and settle old scores. In search of self-redemption, he finds love and friendship. But its the answer to his most important question he has that plagues him.





	In Search Of Hope

… a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

Chapter 1  
In Search of Hope… A figure, cloaked in the traditional brown and tan, tattered fabric once associated with the protectors of peace in the days of the old republic… stood motionless and silent. The black and icy air surrounding him enveloped the entire rocky surroundings within this ancient cavern. Only the light of the hololamp shown, casting a warm orange glow directly in front of the lone figure. On a shelf carved from the granite wall directly in front of him stood three hand written volumes. Each was approximately eleven inches high but the thickness of each individual book was different. The spine of the first book on the far left was frayed and torn but still retained a symbol in what once must have been a deep red. The front and back cover were obviously a light tan in color except on the edges where countless hands had held the tome. The book appeared old and worn and had seen many years in this inhospitable cool, damp climate. The second volume was perceptibly thinner in content of pages. The third however looked almost like it had just recently been printed. Its spine was crisp and clean and the edges of the inner pages were much less worn than the previous two. It looked clean and undamaged.  
The man reached up over its head and lowered the cumbersome hood that concealed the wearers identity. The glow from the hololamp lit the face of a human, somewhat old and worn by his own rights. Soft blue eyes of someone much too young for the lines and wrinkles that traversed his brow. His hair off white and upon dropping past his the front of his ears fashioned a closely trimmed beard of the same color. A hand reached out from under his cloak and touched the books until stopping to choose the oldest and most worn book to his left. For a moment he holds it in front of him allowing the light to dance across its front cover. “Book of the Wills” it read in withering letters. He returns the book to the others, backs away slowly and exits the cave. Moments later he is back inside the small ships cockpit and lifting off again in search of his new home.

Nearly eight hours of hyperspace later, It was almost dark outside on this particular evening under the disappearing gleam of the twin suns slowly sinking beneath the horizon. Tatooine was an “unfathomably arid and desolate place” Ben thought as he peered out of the doorway to his modest home. It wasn’t a new revelation for sure. He had been resident to this giant sand pit since as long back as he could recall now. Clear back to when his hair was a blondish brown mix and his skin was soft and smooth as is normal for a young man in his early thirties. “But that time was far from here and now”, he thought. A lifetime ago and a very different time to be sure. The darkness began enveloping everything in sight and the temperature fell with it. As humid and stifling as the day’s heat could be, It was the dark night that was most dangerous for the inhabitants of this world. The day with its blistering rays of light repelled many of the living creatures that inhabited the Jundland Wastes and it was to the night that this place belonged. It was the darkness that birthed the children of the sand, Sarlac’s of immense size which erupted from under the sand at an instant to devour anything unfortunate enough to wander into its proximity. Even a fully grown Bantha didn’t stand a chance once the sand beneath its feet started to give way and sink into the Sarlac’s beek.  
It was however the Tuskens that caused the greatest fear out here at night. For as scary as the Sarlac might be, there were much fewer of the tentacled underground dwellers. No it was the human like creatures that wandered the wastes in large bands of raiding parties that gripped the settlers in fear. No one had seen them coming over the dunes. They appeared suddenly and without warning. Stealth was the advantage, and they used that advantage well. Everyone from small child to elder knew “You don’t go out at night alone”. Except for old Ben, everyone in these parts lived in close proximity to one another, for safety. No one had seen or even spoken of Ben for quite some time since he last came into Anchorhead for supplies. His was a solemn existence and not one for small talk. If Ben spoke it was for a specific reason and it was short and to the point. But he hadn’t needed to travel into town for quite some time and the longer the time passed the less interest it held for him. He had been a jovial and energetic spirt in his youth. The universe was open and held so much promise in his early life. But the beauty and wonder of it all had come crashing down and a serious darkness had all but extinguished the light. “The dark times”, Ben whispered to himself. Gone were the friends and companions he knew and loved, erased from existence and not replaced. There would be no one to greet him if he were to return to the world he once called home. Only the memories of the faces that now haunted his dreams. It had been more than fifteen years. “Would anyone on his home world even remember his name”? he thought to himself. Surely he was long forgotten and his mark absent from her history. By this time generations had died and been replaced by new ones. Children born into captivity that had never known freedom, only the crushing presence of the Empire. By now they were probably used to the living under the Emperors yoke and knew nothing different. 

The sounds of morning could faintly be heard all around as the twin suns crept upward and across the new day’s sky. The cool air of night was now replaced with the smells of a baking sea of sand. Dunes swirled, rose up and fell all around like the waves of a vast ocean. But this ocean was still, lifeless, oppressive. Even to the indigenous inhabitants who have lived their entire existence here on this world never quite got used to the climate. This planet had once been a paradise filled with greenery and teaming with life both in its lakes and seas and on the dry land long before anyone now alive was aware. But that all changed when a traveling comet had struck the planet, causing tremendous heat and devastation. As years passed, the dust settled and the sky cleared… Two suns, one old and one new circled this world burning its vegetation and drying up its water. Only the toughest creatures survived and reclaimed their home. The Tusken tribes grew and regenerated its ranks for more than a century now. But not without the scars and charred skin to mark that cataclysmic event so long ago. Only the “Sandpeople as they were known to men knew the true history of this planet. They however didn’t bother to share that knowledge. That was reserved for their people only. Outworlders didn’t deserve to hear the oral history passed down by the clan leaders.  
No, it wouldn’t matter much if the information were known anyway. “That was then… this is now”. That was the saying most often heard around the campfires and barrooms here on Tatooine. People were only concerned with living and surviving here, now. Food and water were all that mattered to most. Never had a settler even bothered to cast his eyes upward. Looking down at the ground was all anyone cared about. They had long ago agreed to limit their attention to what they could hold in their hands. No thought would be wasted on anything beyond the little world they inhabited. What else existed out there beyond that atmosphere was of no account. And so life here in this desolate field continued day after day.  
Today was unremarkable at best. “Today is gonna be really special” Luke, sarcastically thought to himself. “As if anything ever happened here”. He thought. “This place never changes”! ..he yelled into the air looking up. Then he caught himself about to cuss. He looked around to make sure nobody was in hearing distance. “Uncle Owen doesn’t care for complaining”. He had learned that the hard way when he was much younger. “Stop your bitchin”! ..he’d bellow. “Nobody wants to hear your complaining”. Quickly followed and then silence.. Luke hated the silence. “Better get busy on the vaperator before Uncle Owen catches me sitting around”, Luke thought. And just then out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. “Luke.. Hey Luke! I’ve got some errands to run and I’m gonna need your help”. Luke looked up to find his uncle climbing into the landspeeder hovering near the shed. “Well?, let’s go boy”! He heard as he stood up and dusted off his trousers. “I’m coming”. Was all Luke said.  
It was early in the day and yet the heat was intense. Even as the wind whipped through Luke’s hair as they floated across the sand toward civilization, the breeze was warm. Luke reached behind his seat for the canteen of water. Suddenly the speeder slammed to a halt! “Hey?, What the..”! Luke spit out before turning around. As he spun in his seat facing forward… he saw a person decked out in some old brown cloak with a large hood concealing its wearers face. “Hey you crazy old nut”!! Owen shouted at the person in their way. “I could have run you down if I hadn’t stopped so quick”! Owen yelled, irritated. “Well then Im glad to see you have good reflexes”. The hooded figure calmly shot back. Now Owen was even more irritated. Not at what the man just said, but the calm soft way he said it. “Oh, your glad ive got good reflexes are you”? Owen hollered sarcastically. Changing the subject the man in the tattered cloak asked politely, “Are you heading into Anchorhead by any chance”? Owen glanced at Luke who sat silently staring. “Well boy, slide into the back.. or do you want us to sit here gabbing all day”? Luke without thinking hopped into the small cramped back seat, wondering why his uncle was giving this stranger a ride? “Uncle Owen is a good man but he is seldom friendly and hospitable to strangers”. Luke thought to himself. Then suddenly his uncle grabbed the controls and off the speeder went, carrying the three men. As the speeder slowed and mixed in with the other vehicles working their way down the narrow streets of the Bazaar, The stranger tapped Uncle Owen on the shoulder and with a simple “Thank you”. He hopped out of the moving speeder and disappeared into the crowd. “What was that all about”? “Who was that”? Luke asked his uncle. “Just some crazy old man, forget him”, Owen said and continued on to the machine shop near the end of the street. The two men exited the speeder and walked into the small adobe like shop. “Gentlemane, welcome”! a slender Nubionn said with a crooked smile as he approached them. “What can I do for you”? he asked. “Perhaps something special”. But Owen was a simple man of few words and didn’t like wasting his or anyone else’s time. “Just get me a power condenser for a water vaperator, G series. “G series”? “Well, that’s going to cost you something extra”. The Nubion said with what seemed like a smile. “Now, don’t gimme your crap Ezel”. Owen said with a smirk. “We’ve been doing business since before Luke was born” he said gesturing toward Luke. “Im a simple moisture farmer and I don’t have time for a shakedown”. Owen said as he turned to walk out. “Wait, wait.. Don’t go Oween” said the shop keeper. Owen looked back over his shoulder at Luke. “Always be willing to walk away, unless you want taken advantage of.” He said quietly. Luke smiled; he had gone trading parts with his uncle many times and knew he was a great bargainer.

An hour had passed since the two men entered the shop looking for parts to trade. Now at last they were done and carrying what they had come to town for. “Its early afternoon, if we get going, we will make it home in plenty of time for dinner”. Owen told Luke. But there was no response. Owen turned to see where Luke was. But he wasn’t next to him. In the distance he saw a commotion in the town square with a crowd of people gathered and hollering in a flurry of different languages. Owen sighed, rolled his eyes and then started toward the crowd. He saw some kind of a fight or exhibition going on in the middle of the various creatures piled into the square. But Owen wasn’t a tall man and couldn’t see over the crowd. He grabbed a hairy Trilleon by what he assumed was his shoulder and asked in basic. “What’s going on”? The hairy creature turned its short snout toward Owen and seethed “Fight”! Owen wasn’t interested in watching a fight. Not today, he wanted to find his nephew and head for home before it got any later. “Where is that boy”? Owen thought to himself. Suddenly he heard Luke’s voice! “Uncle Owen”!? There was his nephew standing next to the speeder. Owen was irritated as usual as he strode over to his speeder and Luke. “Where were you, boy”? Owen growled. I thought I saw our friend from the Wastes again” Luke stated. But Owen wasn’t in the mood for nonsense. “Forget that old hermit”. Was all his Uncle said as they boarded the speeder and head out for home.  
Luke was chattering on about all of the things and strangers he had seen in town and how he was glad to go along. He kept chattering on until at one point Owen heard him say..”and so I was figuring that if everything works out, I might be able to join the Academy”.. At once the boy’s Uncle brought the speeder to a halt! Owen spoke like an angry parent pushed to the edge.. “Luke I’ve told you before, you are needed here”! Luke looked on deflated of spirit. “I know” he said dryly. His bubble had been burst like this before but this time it began to frustrate him. He silently wished to himself.. “I just want some excitement” and with that he slumped back into his seat and sulked.

Off in the distant reaches of the Dune Sea in the Jundland Wastes two pairs of oddly shaped and worn goggles surveyed the horizon. The Tuskens barked to one another back and forth for a moment and then the taller of them pointed toward just below the smaller of two suns. The silhouette of a biped making its way across the sand grabbed their attention. On most occasions they would have called for other members of the clan to join them in accosting the lone figure. But “this one… we don’t want” the taller raider grunted to his partner. They both recognized the figure even at this considerable distance, they knew as did all Tuskins, that “no one disturbs the old one”… “Benza” one Tuskin murmured…  
Several days had come and gone since Luke had traveled into town with his uncle and the trips details began to fade form his mind. All but one memory wouldn’t let go.. the hooded stranger. And how his Uncle was helpful toward him. “Did Uncle know that guy”? Luke pondered. I do recall a man that used to stop by from time to time when Luke was little but the man and his Uncle had some kind of a falling out or argument and he stopped coming around. It had been several years since he had remembered seeing the man. Luke tried to remember what he had heard them argue about so long ago but due to so much time passing and his youth he couldn’t. “Oh well”. And then back to work on repairing the moisture vaperator before his Uncle came looking for it.  
It was some time close to dinnertime, his stomach told him. So Luke cleaned up and started for the kitchen and Aunt Berru. He loved his Aunt so much that the truth of her not being his maternal mother didn’t seem to matter. He knew she wasn’t his birth mother but she was all he had ever known. She was kind and loving and stood as buffer to his Uncle. Uncle Owen was good to him, never been mean to him but he had always sensed a distance from his Uncle. Luke figured that “that was just his nature” and you can’t fault the man for that. Besides it’s not like he had much choice in the matter. He had been left there with his Aunt and Uncle when he was just a baby. Owen took him in and took care of him, so he deserved some slack. Anyhow it was time to eat and tomorrow was another day.. “That was then… this is now”. As they always say here.

Chapter 2

The old man sat on a mat in the middle of the floor. There were no luminaries but the room shown forth light. The man sat quietly, meditating in silence. So it had been for nearly twenty years now. Alone and isolated from all outsiders, this is the way Yoda his teacher had wanted it. He recalled the words of his friend and mentor “To Tatooine you must take the child. Far from his sister, to the place of his father’s birth, with the child’s family he should reside, until the time is right”.. Those were the last words he ever heard from his master. Then he was gone and he often wondered where his master had gone. Everyone was scattering in those last days of the Republic, looking for a safe haven. Yoda never mentioned where he was headed. Only that “to a place strong with the Dark Side it must be”. And so they parted ways and all Ben had with him from his previous life was his clothes, his Jedi weapon and the teachings that he learned as a youth under the tutelage of his Master Qui Gon. Yoda did give him instructions and advice as to the need for discretion where the child was concerned as well as instruction on how to meditate and commune with oneself. “Trust the Force” Yoda said. “Guide you it will if you believe”. And so here he sat just as he did for a few hours every day since landing on this barren world. He was introspective and through years of practice been able to recall to mind images and lessons long since forgotten. His mind was like a library of information and by concentrating he could access those memories, just as his Master told him he would be able to one day. He often remembered his teacher Qui Gon and he missed him, Master Yoda, Padme but most of all his best friend and student Padiwaan. Even after all of these years, his mind still echoed with the questions, “could I have done better or had I paid more attention I could have saved Anakin”? But the point was moot, his friend had chosen his path and now all he could do is to watch over the son of Skywalker from a distance since the boy’s Uncle and he had argued some years ago. Owen was a farmer, a practical man like his father before him had been. He didn’t hold to the ideals that Luke’s father had held so high. He said that “He didn’t want Luke following old Ben off on some damn fool crusade like his father”!! And so Ben backed away but not too far away. He maintained a watchful eye at a distance. Watching and protecting when need be however in secret and anonymous.  
“It was nice to see the boy again” he meditated. “He is grown now, reminds me of his father”. “Master Qui Gon was convinced that Anakin was “the chosen one” to bring balance back to the force”. Yoda spoke of this boy as “A new hope” for the galaxy. But is he? Will he step up when it is time and do what must be done”? That was the question that plagued him for the past twenty years. Could the boy be counted on? If tempted by the Dark Side as his father had been? Would he be seduced by the Dark Side? So much will rest on young Luke’s shoulders. Will he choose wisely?  
One thing was for sure.. If Luke was to be trained in the ways of the Force, to become a Jedi like his father, Ben had to teach him. Teach him better than he had Anakin. “This is our last hope” he said out loud to no one but himself. And back to his meditation he returned.  
“Anakin’s fall was partly his fault” Ben mused. “But the Jedi Council was partly to blame as well”. “The Jedi were Force wielders and so led by the Force they were the guardians of light. But over time personalities and ambitions, contrary to the ways of the Force had crept in. Power, even in the hands of a good man, can become a corrupting influence. The burden of power meant vigilance against one’s own ego as well as not letting one think too much of himself and his abilities. It was the Force that guided a Jedi not the other way around. Even though the Jedi Council believed that they were doing the right thing, they were blinded by their own power. They allowed themselves to justify the means in order to achieve that ends. That was in stark contrast to all that the Jedi believed and ended up being the very hypocrisy that pushed Anakin to distrust the Council and rebel. In a way Anakin saw the lies and deception from the very ones he looked to for guidance. As much as Palpatine is to blame for his twisting the truth, the council shares that blame for giving him the ammunition to use against them. Had the Council held their morally right ground and acted according to their own teachings and been blameless, Palpatine would have had nothing with which to charge the Jedi with impropriety and deceit. But all that had transpired was over and done long ago and had become academic at this point. No point in playing the blame game. But it is noteworthy to remember how it all began and where it went wrong so as not to repeat those same mistakes.  
“No, Anakin didn’t fall due to one thing or one person or even one trial. It was a succession of mistakes and events that added up to what corrupted him in the end”. “It had been ‘arrogance’ and ‘fear’ that consumed him”. “And continues to fester deep in his soul”.  
Ben closed his eyes once more and took a deep breath just before focusing his mind on what the words in the ancient book had said…  
“Book Of The Wills” it said on the worn front cover. Chapter One… 

Light years and a lifetime away in the darkest corner of the galaxy sat a lonely sole trying to silence his mind in search of peace. But there was no peace to be found. He sat inside the circular black chamber bathed in white light on the inside. He was a monster when loose but here in a cocoon of meditation, he was just a man, broken and angry. The large mask and helmet took up space on the floor next to his feet. Set aside but not discarded. If he were outside the safety of his confines his body wouldn’t survive long. The mask as well as the helmet were both just part of his prison, Included along with the heavy, cumbersome body and armor. Only here in solitude, could he shed the shiny black metal face that he hid behind. His body had been skillfully cared for and repaired but there was no one to care for his shattered psyche. He was cursed, damned. He focused on his teachings, reciting the mantra of his new found clan and searching for meaning. “Peace Is A Lie”, “There Is Only Passion”, “Through Passion I Gain Strength”, “Through Strength I Gain Power”, “Through Power I Gain Victory”, “Through Victory My Chains Are Broken”, “The Force Shall Free Me”. This is the code of his master and teacher. He had pledged his life and death to the one who offered him the power. Power to control his destiny. “But like any deal made with the devil, there were consequences, a price to be paid”. He thought to himself as his head dropped forward and he “hoped not to dream tonight”.

“I can’t believe how much time has passed”. “Not so long ago I was new to this place and now… now, I have become part of this place”. Ben thought to himself as though he were talking to an old friend. “I have seen far too much in such a short life span, certainly Master Yoda must feel similar at his staggering age”. “I wonder what he’s been up to, all this time tucked away in the folds of the galaxy”? Ben continued communing, not noticing the time or change in temperature around him. “I’m quite confident in the fact that my old friend is still much alive, I am certain that, had he died, I would have felt it”. “Strong is our connection in the Force”. “Sometimes I wish he had chosen someone else to entrust this responsibility to, and yet with the passing of time I do appreciate the faith Master Yoda placed in me”. “It’s no small task to watch…. and hope”. As the old man continues to meditate and ponder the changes that must have taken place by now all over the galaxy, he feels a cold shiver pierce right through his mortal coil… Eyes shut for several hours, now shot open… wide! 

“It was nice of your aunt to fix us such a fine supper, wasn’t it”? Owen said loud enough for his wife to hear. “Uh, yeah”! “It tastes great Aunt Beruu”. Luke’s words stumbling out of his mouth half full. “Well Im glad my favorite two guys like it”, Beruu laughed. “I was beginning to wonder if I hadn’t done something wrong, what with all this silence at the table”. “Nah, nothing wrong” burped Owen. “Its that vaperator out on the eastern plain that keeps me preoccupied day and night”. “Sometimes I think Im going to go crazy or something, place will be the death of me”. Owen stopped talking and filled his plate and mouth with as much as either could hold. Luke finished his dinner and leaned back against his chair, raising his arms into the air and then clasping his fingers tightly together behind his head. He took a deep breath and thought to himself for a moment or two, then suddenly said “Well!, I guess I’ll turn in”. Owen and Beruu both stopped eating and looked up from the table and then at each other silently. But as their eyes met it was obvious to both that they were having the exact same thought… at that very moment. “Since when has that boy ever jumped up from the table without eating desert”?! Owen barked at no one in particular. Beruu laid her hand.. gently on Owen’s, which was lying on the table next to her. Beruu didn’t say a word, she didn’t have to.  
Luke stumbled into shed farthest from the main dwelling cut into the bedrock.. It was farthest from the living area since it was full of fuel… and that made it a hazard… if it should catch a spark. The air inside of the hut was even warm and stale and filled with fumes. He felt his way in the dark until his hand brushed the wall and he felt the familiar switch. Just as the light flickered on, Luke lost his balance and fell against a pile of oil containers, stacked up next to the door. “Crashhh!” They all came tumbling around him and across the floor. Feeling irritated and clumsy he tried to stand. But he stepped on some loose tools lying on the floor and slid back down landing on his back. “I hope that wasn’t loud enough for Uncle”…. But he didn’t need to finish the sentence! Looking puzzled and a bit angry, Owen stood in the doorway, arms crossed and shaking his head. Luke expected a scolding or even a lecture at least but his uncle just turned and walked back to the main dwelling. Now, realizing how stupid he looked, got to his feet and finally found what he had come here for in the first place… Sifting through a drawer he found it! It was a small holodisk… “I knew it was in here”, Luke said quietly to himself. Holding it up he stood there looking at it. “Been looking for this for two weeks”. He thought in his mind. “Finally got ya”! And with that he turned the lights off and walked toward home… All he could think of was bed, sleep.

“It was eerily quiet” Ben thought to himself as he looked around and pulled himself up off of the floor. He stood exactly where he had been sitting, what must have been hours ago from the look of daylight outside. He checked the chrono on his wrist. “It’s nearly midday”! “Had I really been in meditation all night and half of the day already”? Questioning his empty room. Something was different. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but something was out of place. He shook his head and made his way to the water container sitting on the small table. He didn’t bother to pour himself a glass… just tipped the jug and drank… and drank. When finally, he had had enough he put the jug down and replaced the cap. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve. Not until moving to this particular planet would he ever consider such a barbaric gesture! “But that was then… this is now”, it crossed his mind. “Did I just say that”? he asked himself out loud. “Perhaps I do need to find someone to talk with before I go completely mad”. He tuned to walk outside when his right foot struck something lying on the floor. He hadn’t noticed it but next to his boot was a shiny metallic object, foreign to almost anyone in these parts, but not to Ben! “Where did you come from”? He asked the object, but got no reply. “Oh great now I’m talking to lightsabers”! He said as he carefully placed the weapon back in the small wooden chest that he usually kept hidden under a pile of old blankets. “Well, better get a move on, I have quite a distance to travel today if I’m going to Anchorhead”. 

It was near dinner time when Luke discovered that he had lost track of time again and been gone too long. “Oh man, Im going to get it if I don’t get home fast”! “Even at full speed the old speeder wasn’t fast enough to reach home before dark” he realized. But he really didn’t have a choice. He had been sitting here in the Office of Imperial Affairs for close to three hours. He couldn’t tell his aunt and uncle where he was going and it bothered his conscience. But he couldn’t stay here forever. Most of his friends had already gone. He was a bit younger than they were but it seemed like they’ve been gone forever. Biggs, his best friend was like an older brother to him. Biggs was the one who taught him to operate a landspeeder, without his uncle knowing of course. Biggs had gone off to the academy and come back to visit and amaze Luke with his stories and adventures. He spoke of things Luke had never even dreamed of. But his uncle was dead set against it. So in desperation he decided to put his application without his uncle’s consent. The tiny holo-disk held all of his personal information along with his identity pass. The pass was old and worn compared to most but the desk sergeant said it checked out. Luke looked it over and was confused by the dates. His aunt and uncle had told him he was born there and left with them to raise when his mother passed while he was only an infant. But the timeline just didn’t seem right. “Oh well, I’m sure it’s right”. He thought, trusting his family’s word. He hated to ask the desk sergeant, who he had interrupted twice already, how much longer it was going to take”? “I can’t sit here any longer. He stood up, gave the poster on the wall a snappy salute and left. His land speeder was sitting just outside. He hopped into the dusty old heap. He turned on the controls and shot forward, leaving a cloud of dust behind for the locals to choke on! The old speeder was giving everything she had but the twin suns slowly made their way down beyond the horizon and day turned ever so gently into night. It was close to bedtime when Luke arrived back home. “But he and the speeder were all in one piece”.. He told himself. He practiced the entire way home, what he was going to say when his aunt and uncle finally got hold of him. He didn’t have to wonder for long. Both sat quietly at the table when he came strolling in. “You’re both still awake”? he asked. “Still awake”? “Still awake”?!! Even louder. But before he could form another word, Beruu stood up and placed her hands on Luke’s face. “Luke? Where have you been all day? We’ve been worried sick”!! Luke looked down at the floor. He couldn’t think of anything to say. All of his carefully worded stories disappeared the second he saw them in the dining area. Careful so as not to be too obvious… Luke slo-o-owllly slipped a tiny holo-disk into his pants pocket.

Riding a half sized Bantha youngling wasn’t as difficult as it seemed when he first tried it years ago. Still it wasn’t the most comfortable or speedy transportation. Ben had rescued this calf from the desert months before. Its mother had been the most unfortunate victim of an avalanche just north in what was known by the inhabitants as Eckhard’s Crater. Ben recalled to mind the story he’d been told long ago while doing some trading with an enterprising group of industrious little Jawas. “Old Arey Eckhard had been a retired spice miner off-world and had stopped on Tatooine for fuel and supplies. He had been just about ready to pack up and head back out into the stars when a shapely young Twilek female caught his eye. He postponed his takeoff while he spoke to her and one thing had led to another. By the next day the girl was gone and so were all of the credits he had saved up over the years.”!! When he reached the landing bay he found nothing but empty, filthy space. He cursed the planet and everything on it”!! Not more than six hours had passed when he saw a crowd gather nearby. Sulking over his bad fortune he slid over to see what the commotion was all about. A tiny green Rodean was dancing around, waving his arms and chattering in his native tongue about some explosion in the wastes. “Something about a crash out there” was all he could make out. Then the little Rodean held up charred piece of something. Eckhard tried to make out what it was, when all of a sudden he yelled out! “Hey!, that’s my Digi-pad”! It didn’t take long for him to figure what it was that had crashed in the desert. He joined a group of young Terrin’s who jumped onto the back of a hover-sled and made way for the place the Rodean had described. Once people saw the trail of black smoke high in the distant sky it was apparent that it was bad. Sure enough the rescue party reached the place and found nothing but a giant crater surrounded by miles of burned and burning scraps. Nothing bigger than a water jug was left. But even so, what was left scattered across the sand for nearly a mile in one direction, was obviously the remains of Eckhard’s ship and any hope he ever had of getting off this rock”. It was a sad story but not a new one.  
So ever since then that rocky outcrop of stone from the planets crust lay, exposed at the bottom of a giant crater in the sand. It was home to creatures of all sorts, and very well known in these parts as bad luck. For Ben and his young companion however it was a place of good fortune. The calf needed a home and cared for and Ben needed transportation once in a while, so both profited from this arrangement. The young animal with its thick shaggy hair hanging down didn’t seem to mind the heat. The beasts had two layers of hair, a long, hollow shafted fur that acted as a sort of air cooling system. And a thicker coarser hair. Ben had been present at one of the Sand People’s “Oral History rituals” some years back. It was a truly rare and unprecedented situation to which he alone had been permitted. According to Tuskin belief, no outsider deserved to know of the past. It was the sole property of their species alone.  
According to Tuskin lore “In the time before this world, another world had existed. A world covered with clouds, and great seas of water that stretched beyond your sight. Vegetation filled the land and beasts of all kinds roamed freely. The Sandpeople as we are known now, lived and prospered in this place. Our numbers were too great to count. Then, one day the sky caught on fire! In every direction, all over this planet, life was extinguished”. Much time passed and only a small number of Tuskin’s had survived. Ben remembered the story very well. It was of personal interest to him, for he knew ‘what’ had caused the “Sky to turn to Fire”! 

 

Chapter 3

Owen had been up and hard at work by sun-up. He was a hardworking man with little education other than the lessons his father had taught him when he was a boy. His family lived here, in this very place for three generations and this land was his home. That’s why he just couldn’t fathom why Luke was in such a hurry to leave? “Got too much of his father in him”. He thought as he worked on the vaperator coax intake. “His father was reckless, hot headed and arrogant. He craved adventure and excitement”. He pondered to himself. “All I can do is try and keep him safe, for his own good”. “Obi Wan told me to care for him and keep him out of sight and trouble”. He remembered that evening when Obi Wan arrived at their doorstep with a tiny bundle in his arms. He remembered the look on Beruu’s face when she held him for the first time. He just couldn’t say no. But!, he had a stipulation to the arrangement. If they were to raise him, then they…would raise him. There was to be no interference and talk of his father or mother from the Jedi. He could watch from a distance, but no filling the boys head with a lot of nonsense. All that Jedi stuff had been the death of his father and mother. This child wasn’t going to follow in their footsteps.  
It had been a long time since he last seen Anakin’s, eyes… Angry, crazy eyes. It almost looked as though Anakin’s eyes were a strange yellowish color. But that was just his memory playing with him. Nobody has yellow eyes, he mused. But Anakin was different when he returned from the dunes that night. He had come looking for his mother. She had married Owens father after his mother had been gone some time. She was a good woman, she took good care of them and his father. It was a tragedy what happened to her and to his father as a result. The Sandpeople had taken her while he and his dad worked out on the range collecting moisture filters. When they returned home that evening looking forward to supper, Beruu told us what had happened. Beruu was only saved by hiding in the small space between the two huts out back. She laid on the ground for hours after the raiders were gone, afraid. When the local ranch owners heard the call, nearly thirty men had shown up and formed a rescue posse. But they were no match for heavily armed Tuskins who outnumbered them almost twenty to one. It was a slaughter! Nearly all died attempting to get his stepmother back. But it was no use. Too many men died or were seriously wounded that night. He was too needed here to watch after Beruu and some of the settlers wives that came and huddled up in the main room of his dwelling. All were terrified and needed to feel safe until their men made it back. Unfortunately most of their husbands and sons hadn’t made it back. And those that did had lost hope. His father was never the same, losing his right leg and his companion. He cursed the Sandpeople every day until the day he died. They tried to warn Anakin. It was too dangerous. And his mother had surely been dead by then. But Anakin wouldn’t hear of it. He took off alone into the dune sea on a speederbike just before sun down. Owen and Beruu and even his father couldn’t imagine her son making it back alive if he managed to find the Tuskins at all out there. They heard the familiar sound of the speederbike return that night several hours later. Padme ran out to see him. Owens father told the rest to stay inside and give them privacy. Anakins voice could be heard much to their surprise. He could hear him pacing around outside talking to Padme. He couldn’t make out what the talked about but it couldn’t have been good. Soon after the two of them left this world, stories started to circulate amongst the settlers and traveling merchants.. About a ghost that slaughtered an entire Tuskin encampment. Now, he didn’t put too much trust in the gossip of drunken prospectors and peddlers, but something happened out there in the wastes. Something terrible.  
It was daybreak and Ben and his young friend were making good time. They could see Anchorhead far off ahead. And to their right at a great distance, the glow of Mos Eisely. “A most retched hive of scum and villainy” Ben whispered to the young bantha. Thankfully he had no need of anything that place had to offer. No, it was Anchorhead and its library that he hoped to make use of. There were very few academic resources here on the outer rim of the galaxy. Fortunately though, Ben had heard of a most interesting hall, one of the passing freighters collected while passing through the Cantalyst system which lay just outside the imperial blockades surrounding Naboo’s sister planet Cecerra. The pilot of the freighter, a human in his early thirties and no stranger to trouble came across a small abandoned vessel drifting slowly in the direction of the blockade a couple of years back. Rather than let the ship and its potential cargo get swallowed up by the Imperial Navy, he opted to snatch the tiny ship for himself and check out its contents. Sadly for the pilot, the ship held only memory cylinders, and were valueless at this point and what was worse they were all on the list of Illegal contraband. These records contained information banned everywhere within Imperial jurisdiction. Which pretty much meant everywhere! He almost jettisoned the poor payload back out into space when an Imperial Cruiser made an appearance off his starboard bow. Now it was too late to dump and run. He would have too much explaining to do and he wanted nothing to do with the cruiser. He and his copilot had been down that road too many times while trying to smuggle all sorts of things in and out of the system. So he decided to unloaded it on the first sucker he came across and split before the poor bastard had time to open it, then he’d be long gone and no more worries. Unfortunately he hadn’t counted on being out so far for such a long time. The first chance he found was clear out on the fringes of the outer rim where, thankfully nobody would even recognize it and he might just make a few credits passing it off as rare phase engine or warp charger. Heck, he’d sell it as a food processor if he had to, whatever it took to get rid of it and the trouble that came with it.  
After finally arriving at Tattooine to refuel, he pawned it off on some creature with a sizable junk shop that posed as a “Parts Depo”. Watto the owner was reluctant but finally gave in and took it off his hands for a substantial discount! Watto flew away from that negotiation feeling pretty good about himself, he laughed all the way home. Likewise, the freighter pilot walked away laughing as well, but for an entirely different reason. “By the time that flying womp-rat opened the containers, he would be lightyears from here” the young man thought to himself. Unfortunately the smuggler and his big hairy partner had made a few enemies over the past couple of years besides the Empire. Han was afraid that his luck was running out and that his boss was looking for him. Just to be safe he decided to steer clear of Jabba and his gang and return to space and find a high stakes game of saback to turn his luck around before returning.  
Ben recalled seeing the containers and recognizing what they really were but old Watto, who had no idea what they were refused to sell them, claiming they were too valuable. He would wait and find out their value first. He cheated everyone coming through his doors but he refused to cheated in his own shop. Eventually he and Watto came to an arrangement that benefitted them both, but of course Wado thought he’d made the better deal. And Ben would let him think that too, if it meant that he had access to the records once in a while. Ben went through the information slowly, looking for any mention of the Republic or someone he once knew. So far it was just a waste of time. He hadn’t learned anything of consequence since he first powered the devices up. All in all it had been close to two years of nothing. But Obi Wan wouldn’t give up even after two years of disappointment, he kept coming back.  
Ben arrived at Watto’s Shop approximately at mid-day when most of his customers would be eating at one of the small food stands that traveled here every day. This was the best time to hit up Wado for some private time with the… food processor. Ben couldn’t help but grin as soon as Watto left him alone. He had made a habit of searching at random at first and then searching specific logs for mention of his home world or Coruscant. News had reached him via passersby that the Jedi temple had been destroyed and the Emperor’s castle had taken its place. It was a bitter pill for a Jedi to swallow. He paid Watto his usual fee plus a little extra for privacy. He searched the data bank for hours before giving up once again empty handed. So he gathered his cloak and canteen and headed for the door when something caught his eye. He was obviously no stranger to Wattos collection of junk and assorted trinkets but this was the first time he had seen what appeared to be something that at one time belonged to his old Master Qui Gon… He knew not to act too anxious since that would set Wado off to thinking he had something of interest and of value. Instead he wandered around picking up various objects and inspecting them a moment only to set them back down. Once or twice he even made a point to ask his old friend what the object was for. Finally making his way around the room he glanced over casually and picked up the small leather pack. He asked Watto “how much for this old thing”? The creatures eyes narrowed as he his mouth slowly started to say “why is that any interest to you friend”? Ben acted disinterested and put the pack back down where he found it. He had to appear to care less for the object or Watto’s price would go up. “I don’t need it” Ben said, turning to leave. “Wait”. “Wait”. “Don’t go yet”. Ben again turned to face the shop keeper but the creature was moving toward him cautiously. “What know you of this bag”? Watto inquired. Ben wasn’t used to being questioned like this. The hermit seldom spoke to anyone. But his host was most insistent. “I know you” “Don’t I”? Ben was about to leave when Watto said the word. A word that meant certain death to whoever acknowledged it. “Jedi”? Came from Watto’s snout.  
Ben froze for a moment and then acted as if he was confused, “Jedi”? “What’s that”? he asked. “Watto is no fool”. The creature spit forth with contempt. Ben couldn’t afford to argue, not now. Strangers were coming. A crowd of strange beings, all looking to trade or sell. Watto turned his attention to the beings that poured into his store from the side door when Ben made his getaway. This wasn’t the first time Ben had been caught by surprise. But in the few times when someone suspected him of being more than a wanderer he had been able to play it off with a disarming smile and a convincing story. This time was different. Watto and Ben had spoken a handful of times since first bringing the baby to this planet but Watto was unimpressed with him and his bundle. Humanoids all looked the same to him, too tall and ugly! But this time Wattos attention was peaked with the addition of the small bag. “The bag and that human” kept flashing through Watto’s mind. For the first time in years he recalled the face of the human that sold it to him. Names weren’t important, what was important was that that stranger took with him Watto’s favorite possession. He’d made what seemed a fools bet with the human. In the end Wado lost. He hated to lose! Especially to that one. He was even taller than most! But it wasn’t the tall man who he was thinking of this time. It was the other man, “the shorter one with hair on his face. He had been much younger and his face smoother” Watto reminisced. “The man here today, the wanderer was older and his beard white”. The small creature remembered. But there was no mistaking, it was him! 

Luke sat in the sand with his back against a large vaporator and abroad brimmed hat flopping over his brow. It was late and aunt Beruu would be calling for him soon. But Luke’s mind was somewhere else. His thoughts were troubled, mixed up trying to decide his next move. “This place is all he’d ever known. The only home he ever had. Was he being selfish”? He wondered to himself silently. “I owe my aunt and uncle everything” it crossed his mind. But then don’t I owe it to himself to…” His private thoughts were interrupted by footsteps. “Hey, wormy”! a familiar voice said. Luke’s eyes snapped open looking around him in all directions. “Wormy”? The voice repeated. Then.. “What’s a matter with you kid”? A youthful and somewhat attractive face hollered. A girl dressed in clothes similar to Luke’s squatted down beside him and playfully pushed his shoulder, causing him to fall over. “Hey, are you going deaf or something”? she asked. Luke smiled and looked up into her sultry brown eyes. “I’m.. uh”. But he didn’t get another word out before another voice chimed in. “Hey, man”? and then another. “Hey, buddy”! Luke knew the second voice was his friend Janek who was also the beautiful girls boyfriend. But the third voice is the one that shocked him back to consciousness! “Biggs”! Luke yelled out as he shot to his feet and grabbed his old friend by the shoulders. “How”? was all Luke could come up with. Biggs had a giant smile just below his full, black mustache. He and Luke had been best friends for as long as either of them could recall. Luke was a good year and a half younger than Biggs but that detail never mattered to either of them. Biggs was the older brother Luke wished he’d had.  
“Stop calling him that”. Biggs said to Windy. The girl reached up and mussed Luke’s hair. “Ah, he likes it. Don’t you wormy”? She said looking into Luke’s eyes. He looked directly into her eyes and any protest he was feeling quickly subsided. “I don’t mind if you.. call me that, Windy”. Luke said with a lovesick, puppydog gaze. “All right, enough”! Janek broke in. He put his arm around Windy making it obvious that he was marking his territory. Janek wasn’t the jealous type, still he made it well known that Windy was with him. Luke looked back at Biggs. “What going on”? Luke asked. “You guys never come all the way out here”. Biggs pushed his hand into his front jacket pocket and pulled out a small metallic object. He dropped it into Luke’s right hand. It was a pilots ID badge… “Luke looked startled”! “Is this it”? He asked his older friend. “You’re going”? Asked the stunned youth. “You’re really leaving”. Was all Luke could think to say. He had lived his entire life on this sandy rock but it was made bearable by his friend’s. Now his shoulders slumped a bit and he felt all alone. Biggs saw his sadness and put his arm around his little brother’s neck and pulled him close. “Come on buddy, don’t get like that”. Biggs attempted to comfort Luke and remind him that this was all the two of them dreamed about and talked about nearly every day since they were kids. But Luke’s heart sunk as he realized that Biggs was leaving him behind.  
“I told you to wait, Biggs”. Janek burped into Luke’s face. “Now you’ve made him all sad”. Luke face looked all red and embarrassed as he mustered a smile. “Shut up Janek”. Luke said halfheartedly. “Janek laughed out loud and socked Luke playfully in the arm. “So now what”? Luke asked Biggs. “Well I’ve got about two weeks to get my things in order and then I’m bound for orientation. Then I guess I’m off to wherever they send me”. Biggs stated as a matter of fact. Biggs smiled and slapped Luke on the back gently. “I’ll be back in no time, you’ll see”. But to Luke that sounded like a lifetime. “What did your uncle say when you told him you had signed up for the academy”? Asked Windy. “I… uh, haven’t told him yet exactly”. Luke told her. “You mean you haven’t told your uncle that you already put in your paperwork”? Janek asked him. “Luke, you need to tell him and soon”. Biggs said. “I know, but it’s just”. And once again the youth looked away so as to hide his teary eyes. After some time spent retelling old stories and making fun of one another for getting scared when they went hunting for Tuskin’s, the foursome said their goodbyes. Biggs was the last to leave the Lars farm. He and Luke talked about an hour before they hugged each other goodbye. Then Luke stood out in the dark, cool air watching until Biggs speeder disappeared from sight. He turned and went inside. This was it, he thought. Now I’m really alone. He dragged his feet all the way to his room, not saying a word. Not even to reply to his uncle’s call, of lights out! He dropped onto his bed and let out a sigh. “That’s it”. Was all he said and closed his eyes.

Ben waited close to a week before coming back to Anchorhead. He was in no hurry to face Watto’s accusatory stare. But he had to go, had to make sure he talked the alien out of telling anyone who he was. He had lived in anonymity for too long to mess it up now. “It isn’t time yet”. He thought to himself. “Just need a little more time”. But the time was now for Ben. He had work to do and it was going to take every trick he knew to persuade Watto to keep silent. He figured that he would “appeal to the trader’s greed and offer him a bribe. When that didn’t work he would try to scare him. And if that doesn’t work…”. But Ben didn’t have to wait long for an answer. Watto was waiting for him. He walked into the shop and found it deserted except for a few maintenance droids wandering about. Then he heard the familiar voice call to him. “Jedi”. Was all the trader said. Ben slowly turned around and found himself staring right down the barrel of a blaster. “You have to be pretty good to sneak up on a Jedi”. Ben thought to himself. “And this chap is most certainly good”. The figure standing in front of him, holding the blaster directly at him was somewhat familiar and yet not totally. “Jedi”? The helmeted humanoid stated in a hollow synthetic voice. “Yes, this is one of the Jedi that came here long ago and took my prize”. Ben glanced over at Watto. “Your prize”? he inquired. “You and that other one, the tall one… and the girl. You took Ani away from me”. “You took away my best mechanic and pod racer, my moneymaker”. Watto seethed coldly. “Now I get back my investment”. And with that said, the bounty hunter motioned for Ben to walk out back and onto a waiting skiff and more armed individuals.

“The glare from the hot sand was bad enough”. Ben thought. But “this open air skiff is a terrible mode of transportation”. He hollered over the whine of the engine. No one aboard said a word. They just kept on forward deeper into the wastes until a large fortress came into view. Ben had never ventured this far out into the dune sea but he knew of this place. And of its owner. The skiff glided along and in through a portal in the side of the massive structure and slowly came to a halt. There was no chatter or instructions given, just the push of a cold blaster against the Jedi’s back and he knew what to do. He stepped down from his ride and followed a small pig-like biped through the hallways that snaked their way through this maze ahead. The further they walked the darker the tremor in the Force grew. All around Ben could feel the Dark side. He hadn’t known this place before today but something very familiar came into site. The captors and their captive entered into a large room, lit by torches and surrounding him on all sides were various lifeforms. A mixture of creatures from across the galaxy all piled into this evil place. There was absolute silence except for the sound of their boots. Finally someone spoke. A deep, guttural sounding voice full of bass, echoed off the walls. “Jedi”. It said, and with that the room erupted in laughter. All present were enjoying this party except for Ben who was “possibly the main course”. He whispered to himself. He contemplated “making a break for it , but to where”? he asked himself. Suddenly the mood of the room changed and music began playing from some direction and loud conversation and laughter filled the air. Ben’s captors retreated to their positions around the enormous mass which was obviously his host. In a deep slow voice.. “So, Jedi”. He spoke looking intently at Ben. “Da Wanna Cho Butta”? the creature said in an inquisitive tone. Unfortunately Ben knew precisely what his host was saying. This was not the first time Ben had encountered someone such as this. In the old republic his kind were known by all as “Huts”. Ben muttered. A slender and calm humanoid droid gestured to his master. “Jabba”. It said. At that the Hutt laughed his deep familiar laugh sending everyone around him into raucous applause. The massive Hutt gestured to his right and Ben approached and sat on the pillows placed in front of him. He wasn’t quite sure but he was beginning to feel less like a prisoner and more like a guest. Females of several species danced and whirled around the room for the entertainment of their master and his new guest. Ben felt a little uneasy, he wasn’t used to this kind of attention and not from someone as notorious as one of the Hutts. Hutts had the distinct reputation as gangsters and slavers. Anything illegal in the galaxy was in some way attached to their kind.  
All in attendance to this party were of good spirits except for the lone Jedi. “I don’t like this one bit, I have a bad feeling about this”. Ben’s mind echoed. After some time the noise died down and the music subsided. Now the Hutts attention turned to his guest. Wide piercing eyes stared at Ben. “His, highness would like to know if you are comfortable”? asked a small greyish looking fellow. “Uh, yes quite comfortable, thank you”. “His eminence would like to welcome you to his home and as a gift, offers one of his maidens for your enjoyment”. Spoke the tiny creature. Ben’s face shown surprise and his cheeks somewhat rosy in color. Jabba laughed “HO Ho HOhhoooo”. Ben thought quickly and pointed to the twilek female of to the side of him. The music began again and his original captor in the helmet approached and escorted the female and an apprehensive Ben to an adjoining room for privacy. Just inside the room, Ben turned to his armed escort..“They call me Boba”. The mechanical voice sounded. And then the bounty hunter closed the door behind him.  
“Jango Fett”… Ben said to himself. “That was one of the clones” he thought. Before he could form another thought, the female obviously his junior, touched his arm gently. A bit taken aback, Ben smiled at his new companion. “Charming, but I’m afraid this is not the time for romantic rendezvous”. And with that Ben headed for the door only to find it had been locked from the outside. The confused female watched quietly as Ben walked around the room searching for something. “You want to leave Zela”? she asked him to his astonishment. “Oh, no, no its not you my dear”. Ben tried to calm her. “What have I gotten myself into”? He muttered under his breath. But he didn’t count on his guest having such finely attuned ears and was taken back all of a sudden. “What indeed”? She mocked.  
Night had fallen on the planet and the twin suns gave way to a singular satellite high in the sky above him. Ben stood on the terrace outside of his room looking up and thinking. He needed to get away from this place but he feared that might be a little harder than wished. “It wasn’t such a horrible place if you were a guest. But how long will I be considered a guest before then being designated a prisoner”? Ben asked himself. He now checked over his shoulder to see if his female companion was still awake, to his dismay she was. He wasn’t sure what to do next. Then as if she read his mind, spoke. “You are wanting to leave this place I think”. He didn’t know whether to say yes or no at this point. His answer might get him in even deeper trouble. But before he answered the female crouched down beside the fire and lifted a large stone in the floor. “Out”. Was all she said. Ben wasn’t about to waste time any longer; he was ready to leave right now. He slipped into the hole in the floor and crawled a considerable distance before emerging outside of the fortress somewhere to the south. The old man wished that he had understood the reason for his recent captivity but he wasn’t in a hurry to crawl back and ask. He felt his way around in the dark using the Force as his guide. Then another dark disturbance somewhere very close indeed. The air around him was electrified and alive, pulling at him in every direction and then…  
Everything stopped! He couldn’t hear anything or see anything but something powerful stood in front of him, he could feel it. He didn’t dare move too quickly, not knowing where he was or what it was that blocked his path. “All of a sudden, being a prisoner in Jaba’s palace wasn’t the worst place to be tonight”. He said to himself quietly. Then as he stood motionless his mind raced back to several weeks ago when he had been home, meditating and he felt this presence for the first time. His eyes went wide and he knew what it was. “Well, you’ve finally found me”. Ben spoke. 

Inside Jaba’s palace things were beginning to stir once again as the inhabitants woke and came to life once more. Each being felt the repercussions of their revelry the night just before. Only Jaba was unaffected by the previous night’s libations. Jabba motioned to his assistant. The slender droid lifted a small device to Jabba’s enormous face. “You have done well my notorious friend, I’m most pleased”. Said the crackling voice. “As discussed, you will be compensated generously for your participation”. Then the transmission stopped and disappeared. Jabba laughed to himself. “As if I had any choice”. He spoke softly.  
Across the galaxy near the center of all things, Coruscant hangs motionless is space. On its surface lost among the planets endless expansion of ancient buildings stands a relatively new one. The tower spirals upward overseeing everything for hundreds or miles in each direction. Just inside the chamber at the towers peak sits a lone person. He sits astride a large chair, eyes closed and deep in meditation. “Soon Jedi, soon enough and we will finish what we began”. 

Ben hung his head in despair, hope all but extinguished. It was the Emperor. Sith Master, agent of the Dark side. “Only he possessed the power to reach so far. He has been trying to find me. Reaching out with the Dark Force, to find the last of his enemies. He nearly had me when something or someone intervened. Both back home and now here”. “But what was protecting him”? He wondered. “It’s almost like someone is watching over me the way I watch over Luke”. He decided that he’d better move on from here and find his way home. As he walked, he pondered the last few days. “I escaped far too easily from those criminals, I’m certain”. Ben told himself. “No doubt in my mind, I have been playing the pawn in someone’s game”. “I was captive and then let go without a struggle or even a chase”. “Someone knows why and I’m going to find out”. Watto sat in his office counting the credits he had recently acquired for ratting someone out. “Fool, Jedi”. He said amusing himself as he chuckled. “Fool indeed”. Came a voice from his shop. Watto craned his neck to look into his showroom but nobody was there. Then he heard it again… but not heard it. The scoundrel leapt toward the door while pulling a small single shot blaster pistol from under his desk. He eyed the room cautiously. Then he felt his body go cold and he dropped the pistol to the floor. “He couldn’t mover”! He thought in his head. Stepping from behind a large box of castings stood the Jedi. It occurred to Watto to flee or something! But he couldn’t move a muscle. Ben approached the creature, silently without so much as a word. Ben raised his left hand and smiled. “Why”? The old man asked. Watto refused to say a word. But his mind was open and the Jedi could see inside. Watto had told Jabba of a fugitive hiding from the Empire. It hadn’t taken long for Jabba to contact his liaison to Imperial Channels and make them aware. The Emperor himself had reached out to Jabba’s network and given instructions to subdue the old Jedi but not to harm him of confine him for lone. Palpatine just needed to confirm that the reports were true. He would deal with the old man in due time. Ben on the other hand still needed answers. He dug deeper into Wattos mind, sifting through images until something grabbed his attention. He saw Anakin’s mother Schmi… She was much younger than he remembered her and she was with someone. Ben went deeper until he saw him. A being, tall and thin…a Munn. The Munn were bankers making a fortune off the war and suffering. He waited, watching, listening… “Take the girl, watch her. Don’t let her out of your sight”. The Munn told Wado. Wado gathered the Munn’s money and took the girl away. Ben stopped for a moment. “Who was that wearing the black robes of a Sith”? Ben asked himself.  
Ben had what he came for, he released Watto but caused him to fall into a deep sleep and erased himself from the creatures memory. Having no reason to stay in town any longer Ben moved quickly through the city and back home again. 

Owen and Beruu sat quietly eating their supper when they both saw the sand stir off in the direction of Toshi Station. Within minutes Luke arrived in their speeder and made his way to the eating room. Neither his Aunt of Uncle spoke a single word. Luke knew he was in trouble, just like he always was. It was his uncle that spoke first. “See your friends, did you”? He asked. “Yes sir”. Was all Luke had in him. Owen didn’t look up from his bowel. “Heard Biggs is going to the academy”. Luke just sat looking into his bowel and remembered his last goodbye to his oldest friend. Nothing more was said of it. There was nothing to say. “Some people move on, some stay, that’s how it is” Owen resounded in his mind.  
Luke found things to occupy his time and tried not to think of his friend or all of the friends he had already said goodbye to in the last couple of years. “It was no use”. He muttered. “No sense even thinking about it, Uncle Owen was right, there was too much to do here. He had a life here.” And with that he returned to his work.  
Ben sat in front of the hearth inside of his adobe dwelling. He watched the flames flicker and dance without uttering a sound. But deep in thought, he stared into the light until his mind opened up and his consciousness reached out beyond his body and further beyond until suddenly being halted. In the ethereal plane between time and space his thoughts gathered on a shape, then the shape took form. Then the form took the likeness of a being. Now he finally understood what it was that had been sheltering him from the Dark side and the Emperor. “Good to see you, it is, old friend”. The sound of the voice caused Ben to grin. “I was right, it was you”. Ben spoke. “Someone else you were expecting”? Asked his old teacher. “A long time, have I watched you and the boy from a distance”. Master Yoda said. “Unable to warn you in time, was I, to the danger that lies ahead”. Ben had so many questions but time had taught him patience. “How is it that we are able to communicate over such a large distance”? He attempted to ask. Only to have the elder of the two answer first. “Strong, is our connection in the Force”. Yoda explained. “Even now, after much time has passed, are we still linked together in mind”. “Kind and comforting the Ashla is”. Ben knew precisely what his mentor was referring to. He recalled his days as a young inexperienced padiwaan absorbing every word his master Qui Gon spoke. “It is by the name, Ashla, that we call the light side of the Force” Qui Gon explained. “But it is by Bogan, that the Dark side is known”. “Two opposing forces locked in battle”.  
Yoda’s voice once again broke into Ben’s thoughts. “Quickly, the time approaches”. He relayed. “And soon shall you begin the training”. Ben understood the message clearly and as soon as he digested the words, he was back home once again. Alone. Ben considered his plight, saying the words over and over in his head. “Unable to warn you, I was”. Yoda told him. Unable to warn him of the Dark presence searching, seeking him out. He didn’t know what it was, but something in the back of his mind told him that his teacher was watching over him somehow. Protecting him, shielding his presence from the Dark side.  
“Had the Emperor found you, lost would all hope be for the child, and for the galaxy”. Yoda’s thoughts echoed in Ben’s mind. The time was approaching; very soon he would need to reach out to the boy. To teach him the Ways of the Force… if he is to become a Jedi, like his father”. 

At that precise moment, half way around the other side of the galaxy, a violent and enflamed planet hung in the ether. Very few stars cast their light through the thick gloom and heavy smoke surrounding this hellish world. The planet’s surface was black and covered in layers of thick ash. Its rivers made of molten rock and ore. This world appeared dead, no life inhabited its skies or grazed upon its vegetation or traversed its rivers or lakes. Lakes of fire and seas of magma spewed forth against its charcoal shores.  
This world resembled something from a younglings nightmare. Stark and unyielding, uninhabitable and unwelcoming. But someone did in fact inhabit her. Someone just as inhospitable and unyielding. His domain was as black on the outside as he was on the inside. His place of rest grew out of the cinders and lava that swirled round his fortress like the long reptilian body of a krayte dragon searching for prey. The fortress rose high on the precipice of a molten waterfall. Stifling heat and nocuous fumes filled its great rooms and long halls. No sign of life made itself known. No voices or laughter roamed this place. Only the sound of a great mechanical beast churning in its lowest recesses. From under a monstrous set of iron doors came a light. A dim light, not for illumination, but for one purpose only… for healing. Behind the enormous doors two motionless creatures stood watch. Still like bronze statues keeping vigil over their charge. The twin crimson watchmen held a fixed position, to protect. In all the galaxy no one needed protection less than the one floating in the glass cylinder in the center of the large room. But even he was vulnerable in this state, exposed, healing. A body at rest but a mind continually tortured. A flickering image of the Dark apprentice flashed through Bens mind as he slept.

If you had bothered to ask anyone from Ben’s youth to describe him, the words crazy and adventurous and thrill seeker probably wouldn’t have come up. From an early age “he was less of a dreamer and more of a realist” Ben realized now. “I guess that was what master Qui Gon meant when he constantly lectured me on lightening up and not being so serious all of the time”. He laughed to himself. My master was a free spirited sole, he told himself. But it was that free spirit and rebellious tone that got him expelled from the Jedi Council years before. He refused to follow the rigid confines of the council’s mandate. He believed more in the Living-Force, the part of the force that was alive and moved in natural gestures. The universe wasn’t some sterile container. It was a living breathing power that flowed like water through space and time and through all living things. Something alive wasn’t meant to be kept in a cage, under constant control. The Force was free and so should everything that lived be as well. No, the Jedi council was anything but open minded or compromising. In the end it was the members of the council that betrayed the Jedi order. Their arrogance and self-righteous attitude caused them to act just like the evil they had fought so hard against for centuries. They were blind to the Dark side as it crept in on them and played them like puppets. So it goes for anyone who achieves power. Power corrupts even the noblest of men. That was a lesson learned hard. And sadly all suffered for it now. The guardians failed to guard their own hearts.  
Even as Ben tried to rest, his mind wouldn’t let him alone. Questions and images passed through his mind unceasingly until he couldn’t stand it anymore. He sat up in bed and rubbed his hand against his forehead trying to stop the thoughts from swimming in his brain. It was no use, he wasn’t going to sleep tonight. He finally gave in and lit the hololamp on the table and sat down in front of it. He reached into his bag and pulled out a worn old personal journal. He untied the string that held its pages together and leafed through it slowly, looking for something in particular. Finally he found the passage he was searching for. “I am now responsible for the boy. He is my student and I am his new master. I owe my master that much. He had great hopes for this child and believed in him. I’m not so sure. But I will train him the way my master trained me. I will do my best to honor my master’s wishes. I believe I can train him as well as Yoda or any of the others might have. I just don’t know if I can reach the boy. As Master Yoda commented to Qui Gon, “He has much anger in him, so much pain”. “Will he finish what he starts”? the page concluded.  
“Had I known then, what was to become of him, what could I have done differently”? He asked himself. “I thought I could train him as well as Yoda… I was wrong”. Yoda had spent hundreds of years teaching Jedi. “He knew better than anyone, that to train an impressionable young mind required patience and most of all great insight.” Ben recounted. “The most important and most often missed requirement was to see clearly, your student’s flaws. Only then can you teach him how to address them and gain control of them”. “To master the Force means first, to master oneself ”. That was one of the basic fundamentals of mentoring a Padiwaan. In this most basic role, Ben recognized his failure. Ben hung his head, “If only I had been better, faster that day when we fought. Then my master wouldn’t have been cut down by Maul. I was trapped outside while I watched him die”. It was all Ben could do to console himself at times like these. For a long time he’d tortured himself with “What if”? scenarios. His mind tried to turn back time and find some way he could have prevented it all. But he knew as did every Jedi, There is no what if, only what is”. It was time to get back to work, he realized. “No time to wallow in the past when there is so much to do now, and still so much to come”. It dawned on him. “I have much to prepare before the Force decides it’s time for Luke’s and my path to cross”. He spoke out loud. Then he shook his head in agreement and then began putting his things in order. He packed some of his belongings and fixed them tightly to the Bantha as it enjoyed the shade offered by the tarp stretched from the vaperator to a makeshift shed Ben used for storing water drums. Ben had lived an uncomplicated life out here in the wastes. He only bought what he couldn’t make himself. And didn’t bother making anything he didn’t really need. “ A Jedi steers clear of entanglements whether materially or emotionally”. He remembered to himself. And Ben did exactly that since arriving here. Now “I must take these few things I have and sell them” he planned. “I won’t be needing them wherever we’re going”. He reckoned. The credits would come in handy when the time came and that time was soon approaching.  
Ben wasn’t one to rush things but even he wondered from time to time…”When was it going to be the right time”? Yoda had sent him to watch and wait until the boy was old enough, old enough and strong enough. Ben could feel the push and pull of the Ashla when he asked Owen for that ride into town a while back. “The boy was strong with the force, just as his father had been. The two were much alike but there were some differences which might be due to the circumstances of their upbringing”. Ben conceded. But then there were so many details surrounding his father’s birth and childhood that had never been properly explained. “Perhaps Qui Gon had kept that to himself”? He tossed the question around in his head. “I believe it’s time for me to pay one last visit to the junk yard before retiring for the night”. The old Jedi figured. “Tomorrow I will sell off my wares but tonight its time I found out the truth”. Ben thought as he walked along the narrow street past the shops as they prepared to close up shop for the night. Only the cantina’s remained open, they never closed.  
Watto was exhausted and nervous. He had recently come into some trouble between him and his business acquaintance in the dune sea. He had been paid for turning over something important but the something, had been allowed to get loose and now his acquaintance decided it was time for Watto to return the credits. “It wasn’t good business to pay for something that you no longer possessed”. Jabba told him. So Watto was obliged to return Jabba’s money to avoid any pleasantries, but he did so begrudgingly. “It wasn’t good business to refuse a Hutt”. Watto seethed. It was roughly midnight and the usual riffraff had all gone either home or to one of the cantina’s for the night. Watto was alone with his thoughts and his empty coin box when he thought he heard something. “Better not be that bounty hunter returning to squeeze me for more credits”. Watto hoped. He climbed down from the tall chair that occupied the small space between his desk and the door to his office. The showroom was dark and quiet, everything seemed in order. “Great, now I’m hearing things. Can this day get any better”? he said out loud. Only to hear the answer to his question whispered in his large flapping ear. “That’s entirely up to you, old friend”. The voice whispered softly yet ominous all the same.  
Watto didn’t even bother to turn his head or say a word at this point. He just closed his beady eyes and asked no one in particular… “What now”? The voice went on asking questions concerning the child and his mother that Watto had taken possession of some years back. “Who brought Anakin and his mother to you”? The voice wanted to know. Watto remained silent as he contemplated the request. “What do the child and his mother matter after so long a time”? Watto asked. “Answer the question”. Was all he heard. He was reluctant to give up this information at first, but the pain in his throat and the inability to breathe made him change his mind. He struggled to speak at first but was only able to make a slight gurgling gasp when at last the crushing pain ceased. Trying desperately to catch his breath he managed to finally acquiesce with a labored “ok, ok I’ll tell you”. He had even less strength than previously so he chose to sit on the ground at his feet and rest back against an oily tool chest . His story began… “I was young and had very little to start with” He stated. “But I was taught to bargain and negotiate deals in my favor by the previous owner of this place. My boss was a Darrian trader from the inner belt. He came here in exile just like most but he was smart and made some good friends. He hired me and trained me until one day the Hutt’s men came and told him that the Hutt was interested in this place. The old Darrian was stubborn and refused the partnership so they cut him down there”. The odd creature pointed to the doorway to his office. I seized the opportunity and offered myself as manager and partner to oversee the store and split the credits in Jabba’s favor. The slick talking mouth piece for Jabba agreed until he had time to speak with his master. Later that next week he returned and told me that Jabba had accepted my offer at 70/ 30.. the larger portion being Jabba’s. But it turned out that there were other considerations that I had to accept as well. Jabba had dealings all over the galaxy and sometimes he did favors for highly placed and wealthy officials of the Republic on the side, discreetly”. He continued to explain. “One day a ship comes to Mos Eisely station with cargo to be delivered to Jabba himself but first spent the night here under cover. Along with several large cargo containers was a cage containing a small human. A Very tall being travelled on the ship as well. He had me brought aboard and offered me a deal. He wanted me to keep the contents of the cage a secret from Jabba. I was instructed to keep it to myself. The tall one wore a black and concealed his face all except for his bright yellow eyes”. Ben interrupted, “You mean his eyes were all yellow”? Watto shook his head. “No, the eyes were just like yours but they had a sort of yellow glow to them”. Ben sat quietly pondering this bit of information as he recalled to mind the images he had seen in the storytellers mind days before. “A very tall being in black with his identity concealed, but glowing yellow eyes” Ben spoke softly. “Was there anything else, did he explain why”? Inquired Ben. Watto was silent for a moment, then finished his story. “The tall one paid me a lot of money up front and told me to keep him here until he returned”. “ Three cycles had passed but still the tall one has never returned”. “Wado continued “So I figured he most have forgot or maybe he died even”. “So you kept the boy”? asked Ben. “Yes, why not”? Then Ben stopped and his tone changed, “What about the boy’s mother”? He asked finally. “No mother”. Watto offered. Ben’s face took on a somber tone.. “But what of the woman Schmi”? Ben interjected. “Oh, no she wasn’t the boy’s mother, I bought her after the boy came to this place”. “She took care of him and kept him quiet, so I let him stay with her”. “After a while she started calling him.. her child, but it made no difference to me. The woman was crazy.” Watto finished.  
Ben released Watto’s mind as he left the the shop and headed for his bantha. Watto blinked rapidly for a moment then his snout turned to a sneer. He was angry, never before had he ever given up information for free. “Jedi mind tricks” he grunted to himself as he sat alone in the dark. 

“Owen Lars” Read the name on the holoscreen that hung on the wall. Owen stepped in front of the display and spoke.. “Access granted.. Alph Zed 4” And the display lit up and came to life. A young man probably in his late twenties stood at attention dressed in an official looking grey uniform. “Am I speaking to Owen Lars, moisture farmer in the Zakaila system on the planet of Tatooine”? asked the man. Owen squared his shoulders and looked into the lens with a perturbed look on his face..“This Is Owen Lars, state your business”. “I am lieutenant Treeger of the imperial law enforcement division attached to the Tattooine division.” He spoke matter of factly and with no emotion. “Is this your son”? the officer pointed to Luke who was in the background of the display, sitting in a chair accompanied by two Stormtroopers on each side. Owens brow furrowed as his lips formed the word “Yes”.  
Sometime later that day after the farmer had finished his rounds and fixed a coil on one of his many harvester machines, he climbed into the front seat of the transport that arrived to take him into town and to Luke. The man sat quietly in his seat, trying not to look anxious but he couldn’t help feel like trouble was chasing him once again. “Luke was an energetic and inquisitive lad but he had never gotten into trouble before or at least never let himself get caught, was more like it. But lately he hadn’t been acting like himself. Acting out and disappearing at times and running into town without permission only to show up late and making excuses. He could be flighty sometimes but never disrespectful” he contemplated. However this time he managed to drag him into his predicament and that didn’t sit well with the uncle. Owen muttered to himself “Maybe Luke’s growing restless, all he needs is more work to do and responsibilities to keep him busy”. Owen figured. “Whatever it was that he needed, he was sure going to get it”! Owen said under his breath as the transport shook back and forth as it made its way down a side street and directly in front of the Imperial District Detention Center or IDDC the plaque on the wall read. As Owen opened his door and climbed out of the transport he looked at the large and foreboding structure. “Not where I wanted to spend the day”. He thought. He wasn’t standing there long before being escorted inside. A professional looking officer, flanked on either side by an armed Stormtrooper approached. No small talk. “You are Owen Lars, are you not”? Asked the lieutenant asked. This was the same proper young man that Owen had spoken to on the Holo. “Well let’s get this over with” Owen barked. “Indeed”. Shot back the lieutenant. The old man was lead to a small cell containing some of the areas less law abiding citizens and behind them against the back wall sat Luke with his head down and quiet. “Well boy, don’t just sit there”. Owen hollered. Luke’s head snapped up and looked right in the direction of his uncle and then his eyes went to the officer. “Let’s go boy”. Offered the officer as Luke stepped past the others jailed with him and up to the door which began to open. He stepped forward not making eye contact with his guardian and the door slammed shut behind him. Owen never spoke a word he just turned and started walking with the officer and Stormtroopers and finally Luke not far behind. Luke felt glad to leave this place but not exactly in any hurry to be alone with his Uncle on the ride back home either. An Imperial droid pulled up in front of the men as they stood waiting. It disengaged itself from the speeder and made an odd sound as it walked away. No words were exchanged. The officer and his two armed guards retreated until the officer stopped and turned. “Don’t let it happen again”. He warned and disappeared with his guards close behind, back inside.  
The two men raced home in silence, the older of the two driving and the younger slumped down into the passenger’s seat. When they finally reached home base Owen climbed out of his seat and walked for the main housing unit. Luke however sat quietly and motionless in his seat still holding his jacket. Aunt Beruu looked out over her cooking pot at the holojector screen. She saw Luke in the speeder as she heard Owen come into the room. “Aren’t you going to call him inside and talk”? Asked the wife. Owen sat at the end of the table and looked at her with sullen eyes. “What’s the point”? Was all he offered. Beruu sat next to her husband and as usual tried to reason with him on Luke’s behalf. She had been Luke’s personal champion from day one and it irked Owen. “Haven’t I done enough taking him in, raising him as my own, protecting him, even giving him my own dead son’s identity”? Owen pleaded. She had no answer for him this time, she had run out of arguments in the boys behalf. Beruu tried to console her mate. “Youv’e done the best you could. The boy is just not cut out for this life, you and I both know it”. Then she said those words that always made him cringe. “He just has too much of his father in him”. She repeated. At that Owen jumped to his feet and slammed the chair against the table and walked away as he said sternly. “I know”!  
Ben woke in the stable lying next to his hairy transport. The animal didn’t stir. Ben dusted himself off and out of habit felt for the saber hilt hanging from his belt just inside his robes. Nothing had changed, everything was as he expected and now to work. He spent some time travelling from tent to tent taking offers for his discarded lot. After dealing and dickering over credits he settled on an offer that suited him. After satiating his appetite with what he hoped had been meat of some sort, he set off for Mos Eiseley space station, a short distance from Anchorhead by bantha he figured. After a half hour of sand whipping against his back, the old man reached his destination and made arrangements for his fury friend’s care for a while. “The cantina to the east end of town was his best bet” He guessed and sauntered in that direction. He made his way inside, trying to avoid the sale pitches of the local girls and huksters that frequented places such as this. Once seated at a table farthest from the door he gestured to the bar keep who brought him a flask of liquid and a tiny glass. He hadn’t even finished filling the small glass when he heard a familiar smooth toned voice. “Didn’t know you drank”. The voice spoke. Ben smiled and reached over and put the glass down on the table in front of his old friend who took a seat opposite of Ben. “I don’t , but I know you do”. Said Ben graciously. The other man lifted the glass to his lips and downed its contents, followed by a wince. “That’s good stuff”. He gurgled. Ben smiled again and refilled the glass and said. “Just like old times my friend”. Both men laughed quietly as the stranger finished the flask off. “So, I heard you need transportation”? He asked Ben. “Far as I know you haven’t left this old rock once since I dropped you off here with that kid”. He stated. Ben looked around and gestured for the other man to keep his voice down. Then when it was obvious that no one was listening he explained his needs. After the man finished chatting privately they both got up and left the room by way separate exits. 

Only a few minutes had passed by when Ben and his acquaintance met up again in hanger bay #23.  
They moved quickly and once up inside the Corilean freighter Ben went to the gun turret while the other went for the bridge. Freighters like this were old but dependable as far as Lando was concerned.  
Nobody seemed to take notice of the ships departure, just another business day with ships coming and going. Once out of the planet’s atmosphere Ben took a deep breath and relaxed into the copilots chair adjacent to his savior. “Lando, It feels good to be back”. Declared Ben. “It has been quite a while old friend, I seriously didn’t expect to hear from you after all this time”. Lando explained. “I was just a green young kid when my captain and I brought you here”. Ben leaned back and crossed his arms, then stroked his grey/ white beard with his one hand and contemplated the future. He was deep in thought unaware Lando was continuing on with his conversation. “Hey, sorry to interrupt your meditation hour but we have company”. Lando interrupted. Ben looked at the rear monitor and saw who was giving chase. Two Tie fighters shot from behind and crossed their path before arcing around and flying back toward them. “Lando looked confused. “What are tie fighters doing out here”? “I thought they were short range ships”. Lando finished. Ben was silent he looked like he had just seen a ghost. “Star Destroyer dead ahead”. He mumbled. “Star destroyer”? “I don’t see anything out there”. Lando shot back. As if on cue the Imperial Star destroyer Inquisitor appeared out of hyperspace and hung in space right in their path. “Evasive maneuvers”! shouted Lando. “No”. Ben halted him and eased the controls back. “Better to know when to fight and when to run”. Ben said grimly. Lando looked over at Ben in a panic. “Which one of those times is it”? Lando asked. “Neither”. Said Ben. Then as suddenly as the huge vessel had materialized it disappeared again into hyperspace and away from the them. Ben stood up and strode to the back of the ship while Lando sat in disbelief in his captain’s chair. “What just happened”? Hollered a confused Lando. “What just happened”? he asked again as he made his way into the rear compartment where Ben sat in contemplation again. “Old man you gota stop praying all the time and tell me what’s going on and why we weren’t just arrested or blasted to dust back there”? Ben once again snapped out of his trance and explained. “The destroyer wasn’t here for us, we weren’t on their radar. They were picking up their two comrades”. Lando quizzically cocked his head to one side before asking. “How do you know”? Ben just smiled and closed his eyes while leaning back in his chair for rest. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you”. Was all he said and with that went to sleep.  
The journey was under way and Lando was glad it was almost over so he could drop the old man at his destination. He had heard of a gambling ship that offered big stakes and if there was one thing Lando enjoyed it was sabak. He seldom lost and gossip around the gambling circles were that some new hot-shot was looking for action. He was known to sneak things across space and needed a lot of credits to buy a new ship that could jump past lightspeed. “A ship like this one”. Lando said to himself. “Bet I can tempt him with the Falcon and swindle him before he knows what hit him”. Lando said laughing to himself. “I love to win”. He said out loud and then switched off the hyperdrive. “Controls are stuck” Lando realized. He cut the power to the main service grid and suddenly the ship came out of hyperspace and settled to a nice cruising speed. “Whew, that was scary, better get this hyperdrive checked out next time Im in port”. He said. “Once they start to go bad they’re nothing but trouble”. He remembered his captain telling him years ago. “Since taking over as captain and owner of this hunk of junk, he had become famous for making the kessel run in only 25 parsects”! He smiled and congratulated himself. “Be a long time till someone comes along and matches that”. He gloated.  
Ben was now awake and getting his bearings for a moment, “he made it to his feet but with considerable difficulty”. He realized. Then he remembered. But before he could say it, Lando beat him to it. “We’re here”. Lando belched. “And not a moment too soon”. Ben said. The ship came to rest on a docking pad high above the clouds. The adjoining complex was enormous is size but what made it all the more amazing was that it floated far above the Bespin surface. “A city in the clouds”. Lando thought. Then as Ben was departing the ramp he stopped and looked up at the cockpit. Lando waved and Ben continued making his way along the long walk way and through the doors to the colossal structure. Lando paused for one last look at the hovering city before plotting a course for the outer rim and “that new chump”. He laughed as the ship screeched into deep space. 

Chapter 4

Ben moved cautiously through the hallways and corridors of the flying Bespin city. It was a mining colony on the edge of Imperial space and unimportant from the Empire’s perspective. So the inhabitants enjoyed the freedoms and benefits that came with being relatively unnoticed in the galaxy. The place was legit, for the most part. And as long as everyone got a piece of the pie, no one wanted to rock the ship and ruin a good thing. Various objects of every kind and size were traded, bought or sold here either in public or behind closed doors. Either way, a persona with the right contacts could make a killing. And killing sometimes happened. Ben had been here years ago when the Republic was in power and Bespin was a galactic crossroads for all sorts of merchandise. Ben had one place in particular to stake out before looking for the woman he once knew here. He surveyed the area around the main hall which was a large round room centered with a beautiful fountain. Travelers of all sorts would gather and meet here on their way to the transit tube system that moved people through and around the entire facility. He leaned against a pillar off to the side of the food court where a bushy tonna plant sat giving shade from the glare coming through the vibro-glass ceiling which extended to encompass most of the room. He acted as though he was weary and needed to catch his breath. “No matter where you were or what you are doing, people either feel for you when it seems like you can’t catch your breath. Either that or they just ignore you” which was fine with Ben at this moment. At that very second a face from the past appeared half way across the room alone but moving quickly. Ben turned and headed the opposite direction and disappeared. A few minutes later a Togruta in a form fitting flight suite slipped through several doors and down a long hallway quite a distance from where she first appeared when a hand reached out quickly and grabbed her… while putting a hand over her mouth. Her eyes were wide and fearful until Ben turned her around and smiled. He let go but she didn’t run or move a muscle, she froze as their eyes met. She was so surprised that she couldn’t speak, so Ben decided to break the ice. “Hello Ahsoka, Its been a very long time hasn’t it”? He asked the startled woman. 

It had been a life time ago since the Togrutan female had seen anyone from her previous life. She had given up hope… But now, anything was possible. “I can’t believe you are still alive”. She said softly as they embraced. As they hugged like family, long separated, her eyes flickered with tears. Ahsoka Tano was known to be many things, but sentimental wasn’t one of them. So it surprised her just as much as it did Ben when she broke down and wept for a second. When the second had passed she let go of her friend and took a step back. “Im sorry master Kenobi”. She said while drying her eyes with her sleeve. Ben just smiled as usual. “It’s quite alright my dear, there’s nothing to be ashamed of”. Ben consoled her. “I too am overcome with emotion, I just hide it better”. As if suddenly waking up from a dream, Ahsoka’s face quickly went serious. “We mustn’t talk here, too many eyes and ears”. She offered. “I agree, let us retire to a more private location”. Ben suggested. And with that, they departed. The city among the clouds offered virtually everything a person could want. Everything, unless your in need of privacy that is. Nearly every square inch of the complex was accounted for and crammed in with either cargo or beings, awaiting the next available shuttle to wherever they were going. Either way space was at a premium on this world. Ben followed closely as the pair made their way through the corridors and insufferable foot traffic. Finally ending the journey as they both stepped into a narrow doorway which slid open allowing them access to what seemed to be someone’s private residence. “A very wealthy someone”. Ben figured. But he didn’t utter a word at first, allowing Ahsoka time to drop her blaster and gun belt onto the floor and plop herself down onto one of the large couches in the room. He inspected the surroundings and chose a large plush chair, the likes of which he hadn’t sat on in over a decade. As he sat he let out the slightest of groans. “Getting old I’m afraid”. Was all he said before Ahsoka erupted into questions all of a sudden, catching Ben a bit off guard at first. He began to chuckle as he spoke. “Just a second, you’ll have to slow down, you see I’m not accustomed to so much enthusiasm”. Her faced flushed with a little embarrassment, as she realized just how fast she was talking. “Forgive me again Master Kenobi, I guess im a bit excited”. Ahsoka blushed. Bens face softened. “Would you like to retire for the night”? She asked.. Ben simply answered “I think I’ll do just fine, right here, tonight”. As he pulled his hood over his eyes and crossed his ankles in a closed gesture. Muted laughter came from the next room. “Always the gentleman”. His ears heard before drifting off to sleep.  
“Wakey, wakey… can’t sleep all day, the owner of this pad might just show up”. She said aloud from in front of a large widow port behind Ben. His eyes opened and he turned to find her back into her flight suit and sipping a steaming drink as she gazed out into the blue atmosphere bathed in bright, warm light. “So I was correct, this place doesn’t belong to you, and now I’m an accessory”. She looked over her left shoulder at him and smiled back. “Couldn’t help it”. She said in a snarky voice. “I haven’t had a good bath or bed in a long time”. “ And it felt good to sleep in safety knowing a friend was near”. She admitted. “Trust and safety have become rare commodities out here”. “I know precisely what you mean”. Ben agreed. “So what’s your story Master”? She Asked him. “Please, call me Ben, I haven’t gone by that title for almost two decades”. “It kind of sounds silly coming from you anyway”. He playfully scolded her. His tone became more serious as he started “I remember, saying goodbye to you on the steps of the Jedi temple, when last I saw you”. Her head bowed as she remembered that day. She had tried not to remember, not wanting to feel the pain and anguish of her decision to leave her master and friend. “It was a very difficult day for all of us”. Her voice trembled slightly, betraying her attempt to remain aloof. “The Jedi council was wrong about you”. Ben admitted now after years of contemplation. “A lot of good that does me now”. She spit out bitterly. “I am truly sorry Ahsoka, time has given me insight that I hadn’t possessed in my younger days”. He offered her solemnly. Ahsoka straightened her posture and took a deep breath before saying “what’s passed is past”. Then as quickly as she had become sad, she bounced back with new positivity in her voice “So what’s up for today, shopping or food”? She inquired. “Information” Ben shot forth. “I’m only here for a short visit, then back home again, to peace and quiet”. He stammered. “What information could bring you out of hiding after all these years”? She wanted to know. Ben gathered his few items from the table next to him and made a request. “Will you help me”? Is all he asked her, although he knew he didn’t have to. Ahsoka Tano was as loyal as she was slippery, “she would never turn down an old friend” he thought to himself. She gathered her poncho and soft leather shoulder bag and followed Ben. The two of them left the apartment and looked for a turbo-lift that was unoccupied. “Here”. Ahsoka announced and they jumped in and pressed a button marked L-5. Cloud City as it was known to the regulars was an enormous complex with 15 levels in all. It was round, spreading out over six miles in any direction from its center column. It was largest in the middle and tapered down into a small pointy shaft hanging from underneath, near the center below. From its lowest level to the very top it was just under five hundred meters high. Needless to say it was easy to get lost if one wasn’t cautious. Walking swiftly, Ahsoka noticed the various shops and departments along the way. She could have sworn that they had passed a smelting plant on one of the lower levels, smoke and steam billowing up into clear tubes that exited the structure. The heat and smell were unmistakable. Junk consisting of numerous different alloys were being melted down and reassigned every minute of the day and night without let up. Then, just past a fluid treatment center was a carbonite facility. Hideous little pig-nosed Augnaughtss operated the machinery inside. One squealed in hostility when she attempted to duck her head into a doorway for a closer inspection.  
“After some time they seemed to be going in big circles”. She wondered silently before touching Ben’s shoulder and asking softly “Where are we going”? “Do you have any idea what you’re looking for”? She asked him. He turned left at the next corner and stopped. She nearly ran into him when she looked passed him and saw what had halted there walk. “Stormtroopers”. She whispered next to his hood. “I see them”. Ben said quietly, “they’re everywhere. That’s why Ive been circling instead of going directly to where we need to go”. He explained. They could see several divisions of Stormtroopers, busy arresting detaining anyone that looked in the least bit suspicious or out of place. “Quickly, into this shop and out the back”. He ordered. Ahsoka didn’t take orders. But she’d “make an exception this time” she figured. The pair of fugitives did exactly as Ben said and exited the shops rear exit. They stood catching their breath for a few seconds before Ben pointed. Ahsoka followed his gesture and saw an access port in the floor just ahead. She went fist and then Ben followed. When they made it to the end of the tunnel Ben, at last saw what he had come for. “It was just an old terminal” she looked confused. “Are you kidding me, that’s what you came all this way and avoided imperial forces for, not to mention risking my life”.. Ben raised his hand up for silence, then she followed him as he walked over and sat in front of the computing screen. He switched the dust covered relic on and began typing away. She was keeping lookout when Ben finally made a sound. “There”. Was all he said and then went back to pushing buttons. Meanwhile Ahsoka was curious as usual and went off exploring on her own. She examined several large bins full of odd looking item as all at once a new item dropped from the overhead shoot hanging down from the ceiling on one side of the dimly lit room. “Wow, looks like a lost and found station”. She surmised. “Stuff from all over the complex must end up here when it gets dropped up above”. It occurred to her. “Huh, no telling what a person might find down here”? But her mind returned to their mission and she joined Ben back at the readout display. The screen flashed countless images of star systems and star charts. As he continued to type, Ben’s left hand felt along the underside of the machine for a moment until “there you are my little friend”. He said to the small black box. “Now that wasn’t so hard was it”? He smiled. “If you’re finished we need to get out of here”. Ahsoka suggested. “Right you are”. Ben added and with that he stepped up to an exit hatch. “Where are you going”? She asked exasperated. He didn’t speak he just motioned with his right hand and the safety latch to the door clanged unlocked. Before Ahsoka could ask him, Ben opened the door. Instantly as the door opened a torrent of wind blasted against their bodies causing their hair and clothing to flap wildly in the on rushing air. “It won’t take long for someone to notice the drop in pressure and locate the source”! Ben yelled over the incredible noise. “You’re crazy”. Was all Ahsoka could get out before her breath was taken from her and she gasped for relief. Ben grabbed her by the arm and pulled her clear of the hatch and closed it behind them and gestured for the latch to lock again. “Now what”? She yelled into the wind. Just then a small ship appeared next to them and Ben stepped off of the walkway onto their savior vessel. He turned and looked at Ahsoka and hollered “Come on”.  
Luke rose early and began his day gathering tools and supplies for the work day ahead. Nearly everything was packed before Owen came strolling out onto the hot sand. His eyes squinted when his face felt the new day’s sunlight and then adjusted to the intense brightness. He caught sight of Luke, busy and focused for a change. “Maybe the trip yesterday had done him some good”. Owen figured. “Whatever Luke was up to, it had better not involve the law and me again”. He sputtered and then joined Luke. Owen was a good simple man who followed the rules and did the right thing toward others as long as it didn’t cost him anything. Uncle and nephew both climbed aboard the speeder and prepared for a long hot day and plenty of chores to keep them both busy and out of trouble. Luke remained silent for a long time, a bit apprehensive about initiating conversation that might ultimately lead back to yesterday’s disaster. Owen’s mind couldn’t stop mulling over what happened and what he was going to say to Luke. “He’s too old for scolding and yet I can’t help feeling like I need to do or say something”. Owen contemplated quietly to himself. Luke kept his eyes straight ahead and prayed that his uncle had somehow forgotten about yesterday. But he knew that it was only a matter of time before it came up and it wasn’t going to be good. Both men worked at repairing an old K-22 oscillator for half an hour before Owen finally asked for help lifting it up into place on the vaperator and connecting the strut that held it in place. Once it was secure Owen flipped the power switch on and stood back out of habit, since these old machines had sent white hot sparks down his shirt many times before as a kid. Luke was so preoccupied that he forgot to take a step back as the contraption whirled to life. In a split second the machine made a loud clank and exploded, sending shrapnel in every direction before either man could blink. The machine turbine whined to a halt and smoke shot from every crevice as Owen scrambled across the sand toward Luke.  
“Luke! Luke!” Owen shouted as he moved quickly to the boy’s position. He found Luke. But for some reason he wasn’t sprawled out in the sand bleeding as Owen had feared he would be. Luke was standing several feet away and without a scratch except for a small tear in his left sleeve. “Are you all right”?! Owens voice was abrupt but out of concern. Luke could tell that his Uncle was worried about him. “I’m fine, I don’t understand what just happened”. “Everything was going good..” He stopped talking for a second. “And then I felt scared and ducked”! “Well it’s a good thing you’re young and agile or you could have been killed”. Owen said as he patted his nephew on the back and headed back to the pile of wrecked metal erected up out of the ground. “Well, no harm done, lets get this thing disassembled and loaded. We’ll take it back with us”. Luke’s face was a bit pale for someone who lived his whole life out here it the sun. As he helped his Uncle he couldn’t stop wondering what was going on. Even after reaching home and unpacking the cargo, Luke’s thoughts were still trying to make sense of what had happen to him earlier. He was glad not to be hurt but still couldn’t reconcile why. “It’s almost like I saw it or heard it explode. But I ducked before it went off”! He thought pensively. “How could I have known it was going to blow like that”? He shook his head and figured maybe the heat was playing tricks on him. It was known to do that way out here. “But then there was my reaction, I’ve never been too quick when danger was present, several scars on his scalp just under his hair was proof of that”. He admitted to himself as walked to his room. Aunt Beruu was already starting supper. Luke washed up and pushed the day’s events to the back of his mind and waited to be called to eat. Owen stood in the doorway to Luke’s small room and made a sound to alert him that he was here to talk. Luke looked up and slid over. Owen sat down beside him and offered nothing for a minute before saying “You know your aunt and I care for you, we only want what’s best for you, right”? He asked sincerely. “I know, I’m sorry about yesterday”. Luke apologized. “What in the world were you doing just outside of town with anyway”? Owen inquired sarcastically. “You could have gotten yourself killed or hurt someone else”. He continued. Luke turned to look at his uncle and kind of chuckled as he admitted, “I was trying to impress a girl”. He said with slight embarrassment. “A girl”. Owen repeated. “Well you wouldn’t be the first young man to get himself in hot water over some pretty little thing”. His uncle admitted playfully. “Who was she”? He wanted to know. Luke hung his head and simply replied “Don’t ask”. His uncle’s voice suddenly went hoarse. “Not Windy again”! He asked annoyed. Luke took a deep breath and exhaled slowly without a word. “So you borrowed old man Tilley’s T-16, flew clear into town and buzzed over the Imperial Detention Center Headquarters showing off for a girl”? Owen asked but didn’t require an answer. “Uh Huh”. Was all Luke could offer. Owen shook his head in disbelief and then stood up. “Well I think that’s at least a first”. He stated. “Oh, and I shot a bunch of womprats too”. Luke muttered. Owen stood silent and then couldn’t hold it in any longer “Ha Ha ha aha haha”. He laughed harder than Luke had ever seen him. “Luke was taken back a second in disbelief, and then joined in.

Ahsoka joined Obi wan inside the small ship that took them to safety out into space. Once the navigation computer was programed the captain of the vessel went back to join the crew in welcoming their new comrades. The first to speak was a relatively tall young man with soma facial hair and an odd covering over his eyes. “Welcome, I’m”. “Kanan Jarrus”. Obi wan beat him to it. “Master Kenobi, it’s my pleasure to introduce the ship’s captain Hera Syndulla”. Ben reached out and shook the woman’s hand as Ahsoka smiled and said “Hello again, been a while”. To which Hera smiled in return. “Oh and this is Zeb” he continued, followed by “,Sabine Wren and my student Ezra Bridger”. Ben acknowledged each person as Ahsoka approached Ezra. “Well, well look who’s almost grown up”. Ezra tilted his head and grinned at her. “Welcome aboard the Ghost”. Ezra announced. It wasn’t long before everyone took their stations and Ahsoka joined Ben and Kanan in the ship’s hold. “So when were you going to let me in on your plan to meet up with this bunch”? Ahsoka asked Obi Wan. “Apology’s my friend, I thought it best to keep the details to myself in case something unexpected were to happen”. Ben offered. “Still don’t trust me do you”? She asked. Ben wasn’t about to go into a long private discussion here and now so he stayed silent and turned to Kanan for more information. “So, tell me what you’ve been up to lately”. Kanan sensed the tension in the room between his two new passengers. “We’ve been very busy running rings around the Empire”. Kanan stated. “We seemed to have made quite a name for ourselves among the star destroyer captains”. He laughed. Ben joined in the laughter, “I’ll just bet you have”. He grinned. After getting his two passengers up to speed on the goings on in the galaxy, referring to exploits of he and his friends in tormenting the Imperial fleet, Kanan asked Ben where he was headed and what was so important to risk showing up in public after all of this time? Ben sat, arms folded and stroking his beard with his left hand reflecting on the past two months on Tatooine. “I fear that I’m getting too old for this sort of thing”. Ben said. “For years I’ve waited patiently for the time when hope would come back to the galaxy, I just want to do things right this time, is all”. “I don’t want to make the same mistakes again with…” And with that he stopped speaking. Kanan knew not to push, it was obvious that the Jedi Master had an air of sadness in his voice. “Well if there’s anything we can do to help…” Ben cut him off. “I appreciate your concern, but this is something, I must do alone”. Ben explained 

The Ghost and its crew operated as a fine tuned machine by this point. They had seen action from one end of the galaxy to the other, chasing and being chased by frustrated Imperial officers. “This ship’s made quite a name for its self”. Ahsoka chirped. Ezra was trying to ignore her but he knew from experience that she wouldn’t give up easily. He sat, quietly meditating until he felt strong wiry arms wrap around him and wrestle him on his side. She was laughing and holding him tight so that he couldn’t get his arms free but her laughter turned to surprise when both of their bodies were suspended above the floor, floating in mid-air. “Hey, not fair Ezra”. “I didn’t use my Force power, I did it on my own”. Ahsoka hollered! “Well, that’s what you get for sneaking up on people” Ezra shot back playfully. They both laughed for a second. Until Kanan snapped at them. “Enough, time to get serious”. Zeb rolled his eyes. Immediately, the two of them dropped like stones to the floor and rolled away from one another. Ahsoka knew fun time was over, it was time to get down to business again. Ezra lay on the floor watching her “He’d never had a friend or comrade at arms like her, she was more than just an amazing warrior, she was like the older sister he’d never had”. The thought crossed Ezra’s mind. He all at once felt aware of the fact that his family was all gone and these people were the closest thing he could hope for. But his daydream was interrupted as Ahsoka, who had gotten to her feet already and plotted her next move, slapped him on the back as she walked past him. They made eye contact for a second and then she spun on her heel and disappeared into the cockpit.  
Ezra and Ahsoka had clowned around and fought with each other many times, just like brother and sister… Again his train of thought was interrupted as he heard Kanan’s voice. “We’re here, let’s get moving”. At the same time he felt she ship begin to slow down and finally come to a stop followed by the familiar jolt of touching down. He grabbed his pack and lightsaber hilt and made it to the cargo hold where his friends were all waiting. Hera and Sabine stayed behind in the cockpit as usual, monitoring everybody on the com-link in case of trouble. Hera.. “didn’t like being caught off guard, fighting with the ignition switch when her crew returned with some bad guys hot on their heels and firing blasters”. She imagined as Sabine ran diagnostics on the hyperdrive system. The rest of her passengers were already clearing the loading ramp and marching off through the thick vegetation that seemed to go on forever. “Where are we going”? Ahsoka wanted to know. “We are on Coruscant”. Offered Ben as he led the way. She hadn’t been to Coruscant in years, but all of the trees and foliage made her stop and ask “What”? “He said we’re on a planet called Coruscant”. Ezra repeated slowly. Just before feeling something hard come in contact with the back of his head. “Ouch”! Ezra whispered, and turned to give Ahsoka a nasty look over his shoulder. “I heard him, moron”. She whispered back. Kanan was now standing in their path facing them with a look on his face that they both understood. “How can this be Coruscant”? “It’s got trees and grass, Coruscant is one big city covering the entire surface of the planet”. Ahsoka chided. “It’s only 99% covered and developed, the last 1% is forest”. Kanan explained to the two stragglers. “The ultra- wealthy kept it hidden for themselves, a private and very exclusive get away from the poor”. He continued. “We are deep into the southern hemisphere of the planet, nearest the reservoir on the edge of what used to be Kadesh Stadium”. “Wasn’t that stadium closed and quarantined? Something about a radiation leak or something”? The young Jedi recalled. “There was no radiation”. Ben added to the conversation. “A most devious lie, concocted by the same rich patrons who wanted to keep this area restricted and off limits to everyone else without raising suspicion”. He concluded. “Figures”. Ezra mumbled. “The Jedi council were aware of their deception, In time they would have exposed them and their precious hideaway, until the Chancellor declared ‘martial law’ at what became the beginning of the Clone Wars. Then, it wasn’t so important and thus forgotten in time”. Ben finished. “Luckily Master Obi Wan remembered its location, it’s free of sensory equipment and a perfect place to avoid detection and hide a small ship and a raiding party”. Kanan explained. “We’re a raiding party? What are we raiding”? The force sensitive woman asked”? But before anyone could answer she looked up.. high above the trees in the direction they were headed. It was the Emperor’s Palace! Ahsoka stopped and uttered softly “No, Way”!  
The small band of fugitives continued on until the lush greenery receded and gave way to a small reservoir of water. “I hope you know how to swim”. Ben said quietly as he submerged into the cool pond. “I haven’t seen this much water in years”. He exclaimed and then went under the surface and disappeared. Ahsoka was reluctant and visibly shaken as she stepped closer to the pool. “She hated the water”. She thought as she tried to muster enough courage to join Kanan, Ezra and Zed into the water. She stiffened up and clenched her fists. Then after a few seconds and a few deep breaths, jumped in and then disappeared as well. Her friends swam for approximately six meters before coming to an underwater entrance. Zeb had used his strength to pull apart the bars blocking their way into the large irrigation tube. They all passed through the bars and made their way up to a ledge and a maintenance ladder that brought them out of the water and into a sub-system station. No one noticed as their female companion suddenly started flailing wildly and trying to scream. Something in her consciousness snapped deep in her mind, she was transported back to the moment when she had thought she was going to die. Underground in the bowels of an abandoned Jedi temple somewhere under the water that ran into a reservoir below. Her mind flashed from one image to another as she struggled to get free of the two hands that held her head under. Images of Anakin and Ben, light and dark until finally… Vader! Zeb assisted Ben out of the water then stopped and looked around. “Where is Ahsoka”? he asked each of them. They all looked at each other waiting for an answer, when Ezra dove back into the murky depths and went searching for her. He swam franticly watching for any sign of her when at last he spotted her lifeless body sinking down. He made it to her and grabbed her around the waist and began dragging her through the water until emerging into the sub-station. He pushed her up out of the water as Zeb and Kanan pulled her to safety and began reviving her. “She swallowed quite a bit of water, I think”. Ben assessed before Ezra was free of the water as well and kneeling at her side. Her eyes flickered a moment as the sounds in her head began getting louder and louder, sounds of screaming, her own voice screaming”! Until at last, she heard Bens voice, calm and soothing. “Come on Ahsoka” all of a sudden her eyes opened. She looked up at Ben and then Ezra as they each took an arm and helped her to her feet as she coughed up the last of the water in her lungs. “Are you ok, what happened” Ezra asked? Everyone was worried but she shook off their questions and asked “Here are we”? Ben smiled at her and said ”Under the Palace”. He then reached into his robes and pulled out a glow stick to allow them to see where they were. They shed their wet clothes and replaced them with dry ones from the small packs worn on each of their backs. Ezra was concerned for her Ahsoka but didn’t want to push her right now. He was careful to turn his back to Ahsoka to avoid embarrassment. When he finally finished and turned around he again saw her dressed like the warrior that he so respected. She clipped her twin light saber hilts to he belt and looked over at him. “Thanks”. She said before moving along. “It was Ben”. She realized to herself “He saved me”. And then continued walking.“Quickly, there is no time to waste”. Ben told the group before he took the walkway leading to a set of stairs, ascended upward. Nothing needed said at this point, “they were all in this together and there was no going back now”. Thought Ezra as Zeb passed him going up the stairs giving him a nudge. “Slowpoke”! He grunted. They climbed upward until coming to opening that lay ahead. Ezra was the last one of the small group to reach the top, and level ground once again. They had emerged into a cramped hallway with no light in sight either way. Ben turned left and headed down the long corridor. The rest of the group followed, trying not to make any more noise than necessary.  
The smell of mildew and decay were thick in the air and all involved felt relieved as they took a deep breath, when they reached the end of the tunnel. They stepped into a room so large that even the immense looking statues, forming two parallel columns ahead, were dwarfed in relation to the height and width of the chamber. In every direction as far as their eyes could see in the dim light held by their leader, were row after row, of shelves containing what looked like ceramic cylinders. Everyone looked to Ben for direction about what to do next. Ben, however was already moving between two rows of shelves farthest to the left of their position. Instinctively the group followed once again. No one knew where they were but something confused Ahsoka. “Something about this place feels strangely familiar”. She pondered in silent contemplation. Until she couldn’t take the suspense any longer and whispered to Kanan “Hey, where exactly are we, what is this place”? Kanan held up a hand in a way that suggested she stop talking. He looked uneasy, then she felt it. “The Darkness”. Now all of them were sharing the same disturbing feeling together and all eyes shot straight toward Ben. “Remain calm, yes, you can feel it too can’t you”? Ben asked. “This place is strong with the Dark Side”. Ben added. But he didn’t have to, no one was surprised. They could feel the darkness and fear began to overtake them slowly, one by one. Except of course, Ben, whose eyes searched the glyphs inscribed on the ceramic jars just above his head. Now even Kanan was spooked and he didn’t frighten easily. “What is it Ben, what is this place”? He respectfully asked. “We are home”. Ben whispered, causing his companions to look at one another in confusion. Then, Ben’s gaze fixed on something. He extended his right arm toward Kanan. “Here, hold the light while I get hold of this here”. Ben took hold of one of the cylinders and brought it down from the shelf where it unquestionably had sat unmoved for years. Zeb stepped forward to help the old man but stopped in his tracks as the old Jedi effortlessly guided the jar to the floor without so much as a finger touching it. Once firmly on the floor he placed both hands on the top and gently slid what seemed to be a lid of some kind. Ben placed the round disk on the floor and stood over the opening to the container and reached inside. All of his friends stood motionless and silent trying to see what he had. Carefully, Ben pulled something out, a long roll of what looked like paper, to Kanan. Ezra pushed his way between Zed and Ahsoka for a better look. Ahsoka spoke first in a hushed voice. “Master, what is it”? To which he smiled and looked up at her. “Our history”. Ben stated and looked back at the scroll in his hands. Ben pulled out a cylinder approximately the same size as the rolled up document. He unscrewed the lid at one end and slipped the parchment carefully inside and closed it back up and then turned to his friends and suggested, they return the way they had just come. “Do you want me to put the canister back on to the shelf”? Zeb asked. Ezra looked back at him. “Better leave it, nobody is gonna notice”. Zeb then joined the rest of their party and all made it back to the ladder and pool of water. “Do we have to go back under water”? Ahsoka pleaded. “I’m sorry my dear, this is the only way in or out”. Ben explained as he changed and put his dry clothes neatly in his pack and waded into the water from the opposite end of the room. Each person followed suit and joined him in the water. Ezra was about to go under when he looked up at Ahsoka, still standing in the same spot with her arms folded. “Come on, he said this is the only way”. Then his head dipped under the surface and he pushed off in the direction of the others while his friend finally gave up and changed back into the water proof undergarments from before and put her pack over her shoulders and dropped, feet first into the pool and joined her companions. Before long everyone was clear of the water, dressed and making their way back, in the ships direction. Ahsoka was sulking and cursing under her breath while she finished changing. Ezra and Zed went back for her and escorted her toward the Ghost.  
Without warning, the sound of blaster rifles rang out as beams of plasma energy rained down on them from everywhere. Zed and Ahsoka took cover while Ezra disappeared into the brush. He lied there quietly until the laser fire slowed down and finally stopped. He carefully peaked his head out of hiding place when he saw Zed and Ahsoka being led away by Imperial Stormtroopers. He lost sight of them, then heard an unfamiliar voice speaking. “So, thought you could ignore the law and sneak into this restricted area”. The voice continued. “Well, you’ll soon wish that you hadn’t”. he said as he gestured for the captain in charge. “Take these prisoners to the detention holding center and wait for word, only from me”. “Understand”? He asked. The Stormtrooper saluted and turned toward his men and their captives. He “Take them all to the detention center immediately”. And then he heard many footsteps trailing off into the distance. He couldn.t believe what had just happened. “How did anyone know that we were here”? he asked himself. He continued to stay hidden for a little while until everything was clear. He climbed out from under the brush and dusted his pants off before scouting out the area for the Ghost. An hour passed and Ezra still couldn’t find any sign of the ship, like it had just vanished. He wondered if the ship was taken too? That would mean he was all alone and his friends were in big trouble. He kept out of sight among the trees until dark before venturing off to look for anything or anyone who might know where the authorities had taken everyone. “I sure hope Kanan isn’t angry with me for hiding”. He thought to himself. “Ive gotta find out where they are and how to get them out”. He wandered all night until he came upon what looked like high stone wall. He followed it along until he it became part of a larger wall which reached so high he couldn’t tell how high it reached. He slumped his back against the wall for a minute, feeling desperate. Seemingly out of nowhere he was startled by a raspy voice. “Hey, who are you”? At first he couldn’t see anyone, until he heard the question again and he looked down. Standing directly in front of him stood a tiny blue skinned, pudgy humanoid, the likes of which he had never seen before. He wore overalls and a hat but it was his short stubby arms that that made him look kind of comical. Sure he knew all about Twileks and other species that came in different colors, but nothing like this little fellow. “What’s a matter, can’t speak”? It asked him. Ezra just stood staring not uttering a word until the creature spoke again. “Andorean” Was all it said. Ezra looked puzzled. “What”? he asked? The little man sighed in disgust. “A-N-D-O-R-E-A-N..” He spoke slowly. Again Ezra said “What”? When the tiny fellow yelled “I’m an Andorean ya big durf”! “Never seen one before”? He asked Ezra. “Uh, No.. I mean yeah, I, I can speak, but no I’ve never seen anyone like you, who are you”? Ezra asked curiously. “I’m the groundskeeper, and the only non-member permitted within these walls”. The tiny man remarked. “You wouldn’t happen to be one of those criminals I heard about, would ya”? He asked before pulling a small device out of his pocket and flipping a switch on its side. Ezra was in enough trouble and didn’t want any more. Very subtly, Ezra made a slight gesture with his left hand and with a calm soothing voice said “I am not the one you’re looking for” and watched for the tiny man’s response. But the creature just stood there looking at Ezra. Again Ezra waved his left hand and spoke. “I’m not the one you’re looking for”. And again waited for a reaction. This time however the tiny blue man looked at Ezra like he was crazy! “Why the heck, do you keep waving at me, ya weirdo”! Irritation in his voice. The young Jedi felt really foolish and embarrassed. “I suck at this”. Ezra thought to himself and raised both hands as if surrendering. “Please, my friends and I weren’t hurting anything, we just wanted to see what this place was like, please don’t turn me in”. The tiny Andorean stared at Ezra for a second before flipping the switch on his gizmo to off and putting it back into the pocket of his over-alls. Reluctantly he said “All right, come with me then”. He mumbled something else insulting and walked off. Ezra took a deep breath and thanked the maker that the Andorean hadn’t taken offense.. It also occurred to him that “I really need to start practicing that Jedi mind trick”. He pledged to himself as he followed his host.  
Only a short distance from there, In a small cell, Ben stood watch, waiting for any sign of the others. They had all been split up and taken in different directions to await interrogation. He watched from a cloudy portal in the door as Stormtroopers lead Kanan away. He couldn’t see much through the window and feared that soon one if not all of them would be recognized for who they actually were and in even worse trouble. They were all on the Imperial wanted list, but Ben was convinced that if word reached his old friend or the master that he served now, he would be in “mortal danger”. He wasn’t sure how long it would take the inquisitors to arrive once notified but was sure it wouldn’t be very long. In a room several doors down the hall from Ben, Zed and Ahsoka sat shackled in titanium binders waiting. None of them knew what to expect exactly but whatever came next was sure to be unpleasant. Two floors below them, Kanan was strapped to a chair-like machine that closed in on his body from front and back. Kanan had been blind ever since the fight with Maul a couple of years ago but he could sense the room around him with the aid of his Force training. He was alone for now and he was pretty sure he didn’t want any imperial company either. He wasn’t surprised when he heard the door slide open and footsteps. Whoever entered the room was taking his time before speaking. Kanan was tired of waiting and just wanted to get things started already. He reached out with the Force in order to get a glimpse of the person in his mind. But as he reached out he could sense nothing. “A droid”? He wondered. “Well, what are you waiting for”? He barked at his jailor! What he heard next caught him off guard. “Shhhh, keep it down before you get us killed”. Whispered a funny little voice. Kanan was no longer angry, just incredibly confused. “Who are you”? He demanded to know”! “Shut up you stupid Durf”… the voice whispered again. Kanan “wasn’t looking forward to being tortured, but he also wasn’t too sure he liked being called a stupid durf either! Whatever that was! He began tauntingly, “Imperial Interrogators are known to be ruthless” Kanan accused the voice in the room, “but I’ve never heard one insult anyone before” Kanan added. “Oh for goodness sake”. Spoke the intruder just before pressing the controls on the chair to open and release its captive. “Hey, aren’t you going to ask me any questions”? Asked the Jedi. Then as he felt a small hand take his and lead him away he heard it again. “Another big durf”. . He followed for a few minutes up and down ramp-ways and down steps until he couldn’t take the suspense any longer and stopped in his tracks. “Ok, enough already, who are you”? He asked in a serious tone. Then he felt a presence closing in, “Ezra”? he guessed. “Hey buddy” Ezra said and “You’re safe now, but you need to follow us” His young student suggested. Kanan followed but kept asking “Us? Who’s us”? He wanted to know. 

Ezra and his new friend lead Kanan back to the safety of the garden from which they had come. A stone dwelling covered in moss and tangled in berry vines was home to the Andorean gardener. Once they made it inside Kanan dropped to the floor kneeling. He was exhausted. Ezra then sat on a small table like a chair without arm rests or a back. “I guess we can talk now”. He told his master. “This is Gart” He introduced. Gart walked over to Kanan on short, chubby legs and reached out his tiny hand in the Jedis direction. “Uh, he’s blind”. Ezra informed his host. Kanan now needed answers. “Ezra, who are you talking to”? “I don’t sense anyone but you”. Gart chuckled to himself and explained. “Heh, Heh, Heh, you Jedi are all the same. You think you can just use the Force to intimidate or manipulate anyone you want, but there are those in the galaxy that can block the Force. Not permit it to touch them, shielded are we, from your touch. “I wasn’t aware of such beings before today”. Interjected Ezra. But Kanan knew, he knew the truth about the Living Force from his old master, Master Depa Billaba.  
“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance” Kanan said graciously. Gart wasn’t big on talking, that’s why he had accepted this job in the first place. He worked and lived alone and was more than happy to go back to being that way just as soon as he could get rid of them. The younger of the Jedi told his master how he met up with Gart just after getting separated from them and how he showed him the passages into the Detention Center that shared a common wall. “That’s how we got you out of there”. Ezra explained as he ate a small but tasty meal provided by their host. “What about the rest”? Kanan now wanted to know. “That’s already been taken care of”. Stated the gardener while he stirred a pot over the fire. “How’s that”? Asked Jarrus. “The Imperial guards stationed here are on a regular rotation. Tomorrow morning early. They have the changing of the guard where new Stormtroopers arrive from the academy to replace these tired old fella’s. That’s when we go in and sneak em out”. Gart had planned. Kanan and Ezra were in no position to argue and the “plan was actually sound”. The two Jedi agreed. So for the time being all they could do is rest and wait.  
The imposingly large star that radiated its light over Coruscant during the day hours, wasn’t able to reach the barracks or detention building. However, the artificial light that illuminated the hidden lower level streets came on precisely at 7 o’clock every morning and flashed on, waking all those who slept. Zeb woke first and stretched with a groaning sound. Ahsoka came to next and tried to sit up but found herself too weak to move. The Imperials had drugged her to keep her quiet while she fought to get free every step of the way there, she remembered. Zeb was then forced to carry her unconscious body to their new home in cell block E. “How are ya feelin kid”? Zeb asked. “Like I need ten more hours of sleep to be honest”. She answered with a groggy stare. The smell of what Zeb hoped was breakfast, finally wafted into the room from under the door. Zeb sniffed and admitted “I need some of whatever is cooking out there to be honest, I’m starving”. He was always hungry and Ahsoka remembered him complaining back while she fought alongside the crew of the Ghost not more than a year ago. The door to their cell made a clanging noise before it swung open. A Stormtrooper whose body suit looked too big for him, entered. He was having trouble carrying his blaster and his armor hung from his small frame like someone had accidentally shrunk him. Zeb couldn’t hold in his amusement and began laughing, while Ahsoka struggled to turn her head and see what was so funny. “Ok, very funny Zeb”! Said the skinny little Stormtrooper. Zeb started laughing even harder at this point but Ahsoka was relieved. “Ezra, how did you get in here”? she asked. Ezra was having a difficult time with his helmet and just said “come on guys I’m trying to rescue you”. Zeb scooped up Ahsoka’s limp body and made for the exit while still giggling to himself all the way. Their funny looking escort led the way, trying to look as official and intimidating as he could while he marched them down the hallway to a waiting Kanan and Gart who held a metal plate in the floor open for them. They barely made it and sealed it behind them before they heard footsteps from above. They could hear frantic activity going on up there as they searched every inch of the complex looking for the escaped prisoners. The cramped space under the floor was dark and smelly but no one complained as they crawled along. Gart was small enough that he had no trouble at all walking upright in the tiny space but he was the only one. After a few moments of discomfort the group managed to crawl free of the empires jail and back into the thick forest where they had been captured the day before. They stayed quiet and remained hidden beneath the bushes as they heard the shrill cry of what must have been, every siren within a mile of them alarming everyone to look for them.  
“What about Ben”? Zeb asked Kanan. Kanan smiled and told his friend not to worry. That Ezra had a plan. Ahsoka finally managed to lift her head and look at them both. “You’re kidding right”? She sarcastically asked. Within an hour of escaping their enemies, Ahsoka started to regain control of her body again. Then suddenly the warm calm air turned to a strong wind as it blew the bushes and trees back and forth until lights shown through the tops of the tree just above her and she realized that it was the exhaust from the Ghost hovering just above them. Everyone but Gart was excited and eager to climb aboard and get as far from Coruscant as possible. The ship hung in midair while the ramp was lowered. Ahsoka reached up with help from Zeb and grabbed hold of a hand that assisted her aboard. “Her eyes lifted up, only to realize that the hand was Obi Wan’s! Instinctively, without a sound, she flung her arms around his neck and held on tight. “I’m glad to see you as well” Ben seemed amused. The others followed and once everyone was strapped in, the ship arced up tilted to the left as though it were going to crash and then shot effortlessly out of the planet’s atmosphere. Hera was control of the spacecraft and Sabine was punching in coordinates for the jump into hyperspace and as far away as they could get.  
The mood in the rear hold turned to relief for some and jubilation for others. “I can’t believe you did it kid”! Ahsoka said with surprise. “Hey, what was I gonna do, fight the rest of this war alone”? Ezra asked smugly. “Well, I’m just glad we’re all back together, safe and sound”. Added Ben. They all agreed and as Kanan stood up and disappeared to the cockpit where Hera was. As soon as he showed up, it occurred to Sabine that maybe she should go back and see how the others were doing and give her two friends some alone time. Kanan climbed into the copilots chair and faced the portal ahead of them. He could hear Hera’s frequent shallow breaths next to him. Finally she calmed herself and spoke. “Glad you could make it”. She told him as she activated the hyperdrive engines, and the ship, in the blink of an eye, disappeared into hyperspace. 

It was neither day nor night on the hellish surface of Mustafar. No light shown from an adjacent star. It was perpetually dark and barren here, year round. There were no seasons to mark the passing of time, no change in weather to divide the days. This climate was relentless and oppressive. High above the flames on the Eastern wall of Sith Tower, standing watch from a great window, the master of this place reflected on his place in the galaxy. Arms folded over an armored chest, thick black robes flowing in the hot breeze yet he shows no sign of discomfort. Even as the ventilator of his life support system filtered out the dangerous fumes and kept his body at a steady 32.22 degrees Celsius, it wasn’t the torturous atmosphere that caused him perpetual agony. It was the never-ending pain of scar tissue graphed together with what little epidermis fire had not devoured, in connection to hastily implanted sensor probes that skewered every inch of what still remained human. Pain receptors and nerve endings exposed and screaming out for a release that would never come, consumed him and threatened to drive him mad. But his mind, strong, full of anger and hatred fueled and sustained him. It was pain, anger and oppression that gave his life purpose. At one time he had been hailed as a savior, a chosen vessel with which the Force would be healed and balance the universal scales once more. But it was the volley of lies and deceit perpetuated against him and a hypocrisy asked of him, in the face of loyal servitude and patriotism that inspired his eventual mutiny. He refused to be used by the Jedi or anyone else. He rebelled against the strict and dogmatic confines of his masters teachings. It had been his master’s master, the wise old Yoda, who had told Obi Wan that “his padiwaan was growing more powerful than he had expected. Soon, the strongest Jedi ever would he become, if continued to train, he would”. But the naïve boy had given way to a much more educated adult and “at last the student was now the master”. He refused to be held back any longer. He had been denied the title of master by those fools on the Jedi council. Scared of his advancing abilities and jealous of his growing power, they sought to control him. Even after Chancellor Palpatine asked the council to bestow upon him the designation of Liaison, did master Windu resist and state that the council did not take orders from outsiders, including the Senate that stuck in the young man’s memory. “Lies and deceit are not the way of a Jedi”. Obi Wan had taught him years prior. But it had been master Windu and Yoda himself that asked him to spy on and report back to them, the activities of the Chancellor without his knowledge. “Isn’t that like lying”? Anakin had asked? His mentor. But paranoia had already corrupted the very ones he had looked to for guidance. Even Obi Wan dared not speak out against his superiors. But it was Mace Windu that the young man despised. It had been Windu from the beginning that objected to accepting and training the small boy in the ways of the Force. He could recall the look of disdain on Windu’s face. And it was Windu who frequently blocked his advancement within the Jedi order. He foolishly succumbed to the power and prestige that came with being second only to Master Yoda. Only the newly ordained Supreme Chancellor showed confidence in him. It was his wisdom that the young Jedi had come to appreciate and value. He had become something like a father to the fatherless boy. He showed concern for him even when the Jedi ignored him. He remembered the day when Windu asked him to leave so that the council could confer as to their next move”. “They don’t trust me master”. He told Obi Wan later that day when his master returned from the closed session. “You don’t trust me either”? He asked Obi Wan, his best friend. “Betrayed”!! The dark lord’s voice at last erupted from the stillness! But was followed, once again by the sound of air rushing in and pushing back out of the inexhaustible breathing apparatus within his imposing ebony raiment. He remembered his Master’s words, so many years ago as they sat together at the opera. “Those who gain power soon begin to fear that they will lose it and then they start to turn” The Chancellor whispered to him during the performance that night. “Even the Jedi are not immune”. He added. And how true those words came to be in such a short time? “Even the best of men can become corrupt”. The Sith Lord recited to himself under his breath. 

“I just don’t understand”. Stated Ahsoka as she stood over Ezra and Ben”. “Don’t understand what”? Ezra wanted to know. “I wanna know how Obi Wan managed to escape and beat us back to the ship”? She inquired of Ben. “Well, I’ve been in hiding for nearly 17 years, it’s given me time to practice the art of evasion” The old man explained further. “You see, among the many abilities I have studied during my exile is the ability to hide in plain sight. It’s very similar to the way a Jedi can influence the weak minded”. He then went on to explain further. “Master Yoda once gave me a lesson during the war and it has served me well. Ben’s mind drifts back to his younger days, a time when I was as young as I was eager. I can still see Master Yoda and himself kneeling in a small, dimly lit meditation chamber facing each other. Obi Wan notices that the private room contained a few candles and not much else. A single door, locked from the inside and a window port, covered with a dense cloth to keep out the light. “Pass this knowledge, to you and you alone, I must now, young master Obi Wan”. His wise old teacher confessed. “Disturbing are the visions I have been having. To myself have I kept them until now. Much change is coming, and fear that bad it will be, I am”. “For preservation it is, this skill I now reveal, both for you and another”. Ben’s mind returned to the present as he continued speaking “Most people are so busy with the day to day chores of life that they fail to notice the small things going on around them. So focused to get where they’re going all the time that they don’t stop to look around them”. “They certainly don’t take notice of a shadow out of the corner of they’re eye. And who is more unobservant than an Imperial Stormtrooper”? He then asked. “Soldiers are trained not to think independently but to follow orders, so they keep their minds focused on the job they have to do and not thinking of other things. That makes them ideal for shuffling past just outside their immediate line of sight, sort of like being invisible”. He finished. “So you slipped passed the guards in the detention building”? Ezra surmised. “Precisely”. Said Ben displaying a familiar grin. “There aren’t too many rooms that can hold an old Jedi, like myself anymore”. Ben leaned forward and whispered to Ezra. He then moved to the opposite side of the hold and unpacked the two objects that he had recently collected. Ahsoka looked at Ezra and spoke in a low tone, “When we were returning from the catacombs and swam back, I could have sworn I saw the Ghost underwater”. She still wondered. Now Kanan had joined them in the corner booth and interjected. “You weren’t imagining things Ahsoka, the ship was hidden under water”. Said Kanan, we couldn’t risk it being found like we were”. “This ship can be hidden just about anywhere, hence the name…ghost”. Kanan said with smile. “Pretty sneaky”. Ahsoka added.  
Turning her attentions elsewhere, Ahsoka now sought out her recent partner, Ben. “So, master”. She said playfully sarcastic. “What is so important about this stuff”? She wanted to know. Ben held the small black box in his left hand and lifted it slightly. “This data-core I retrieved from the terminal on Cloud City contains the charts, manifests and catalogues of nearly every transaction that has taken place there since before the Clone Wars, when Bespin was the main crossroads to galaxy trade. Nothing came or went without mention in the data-logs”. Ben stopped. “So what exactly are you looking for”? Asked Kanan. “A manifest from approximately Thirty Eight cycles ago on course for the outer rim, Tatoonine to be exact”. Explained Kenobi. “What do you hope to find”? Asked Ezra. “Answers”. Was all Ben said, then returned to his work. Ben spent several hours in pursuit of the information he seeked until at last he saw “7A-11090… Passenger List of the Freighter Argos-4”. Followed by a short list of six names. “Captain… Tartof ,Jamus, then… Cargo Boss… Fellus Bog, then a number x2 M >C > which was code back then for smuggling people. The M, Ben knew represented “A Man” and the C “Child”. That information was then followed by X2 BG >. Ben wasn’t familiar with this code and repeated it over and over to himself a few times before Hera overheard and spoke. “Body Guards”. She said matter of factly. “I used to smuggle questionable passengers & merchandise in my earlier career. “That means Body Guards, which means that they were guarding someone important”. “How would I go about finding out exactly who it was”? Ben inquired of Hera. “You follow the manifest backwards to its starting point. The original Passenger List would have more specifics”. She explained and made off to the bridge. Ben went quickly back to work typing away for a while. About the same time as Hera announced that they were about to come out of hyperspace, Ben struck gold. The name… “Hego Damask” and it was immediately followed by the name “A. Tahl…”. Ben’s eyes focused intently on the two names for a moment before turning the monitor screen off. He leaned back into his chair, pensively stroking his beard, deep in thought. “Tahl”. Was the name he gave attention to as he reminisced about the past. The Jedi temple and his life long before the political intrigue and drama caused by the Chancellor and by Dooku with his droid army. Most of all he thought of peace and old friends. He remembered a beautiful young woman, a Jedi that was assigned to the temple archives just below the temple in among its foundation. The newer archive was above it in the main hall of the temple. It housed the holo-records. But unknown to all but a few masters as well as the council was the original archive, hand written history and genealogy of a thousand generations of Jedi, born and deceased.. Those records had been sealed in large ceramic jars, like the one he had taken from the catacombs. It was now on the floor next to his feet. They were long ago hidden in the lowest recesses of the temples underground for safe keeping. Before the Chancellor declared himself Emperor and had the Jedi temple leveled and his Palace built over top of the ruins.  
Ben examined some of the star charts displayed within the data-bank before turning his attention to the cylinder that contained the recovered parchment. Kanan excused himself and joined his peer in looking over the long lost Jedi papers. He and Ben carefully inspected each column, until one of the names inscribed caught Kanan’s eye. “Here” he said as he reached over ben’s shoulder and pointed. Ben read the name out loud… “Tahl”. The two men looked at each other, but were interrupted by the young apprentice. “Whats Tahl”? He was curious to know. Kanan confided in Ezra finally, “Not what, but whom”. Kanan said. Ben interjected at this point and explained that Tahl was the name of one of he and Kanan’s masters peers in the days of the old republic. “A beautiful young woman as strong in the force as any man Ive ever known, and the Jedi temples chief archivist”. He offered. “Ok, but what’s so important about her”? Ezra inquired. Ben swiveled around in his seat to face the other two men. Then he closed the paper in his hand and went on. “Tahl was a Jedi master, a very intelligent and capable one I might add. She was fearless. The Jedi council used her talent and skill on many occasions to infiltrate and expose some unscrupulous people and organizations. But along with her accomplishments came jealousy and enemies among criminals as well as some Jedi as well”. “Wait, there were Jedi who hated her”? Ezra seemed taken back. “Yes, even among her fellow Jedi”. Ben said sorrowfully.  
“A newly appointed young Master who at first found her captivating, aloud jealousy and anger to overtake him when he happened across his fellow Jedi and best friend alone with her in a romantic embrace”. Ben added. “Unknown to anyone else, he secretly plotted against them both. He maneuvered events that kept the two lovers apart as much as possible, until his rage got the best of him one day and he lashed out, accusing them both of betraying their Jedi oaths to remain unattached and free of passion and personal commitments”. “It was only then that anyone suspected his involvement and interference of Jedi tradition and impropriety”. Ben finished. Ezra wanted to hear more. “So was he was punished or expelled”? He asked. It was Kanan’s turn to jump in at this point. “No, he wasn’t”. He told his apprentice. “He had close friends on the Jedi council, they covered up his crimes and eventually managed to have him elected to the council as well. He rose in authority to become second only to Grand Master Yoda himself”. Kanan revealed with contempt in his voice. “But what of the two Jedi that fell in love, did they get into trouble for disobeying the code”? Ezra needed to know.  
At this point while Kanan was seething with disgust, Ben decided to finish the sad tale. “Unfortunately, the same council members that aided their friend also persecuted the two who grew so close. They were split up and assigned to different posts to keep them separated and satisfy master Windu”. “So the council was corrupt”? asked Ezra. “Even the best of men can become corrupted when afforded authority” Kanan replied. “Yes”. Agreed Ben as he stood up and stretched out his arms followed by a great yawn. “Wait, so that’s it? End of story, he totally got away with it and they never got justice”? A frazzled young Ezra asked. Ahsoka, who had been listening from a distance chimed in. “That’s right”! “No justice”. “But that wasn’t the end of the story”. “Ben and Kanan both looked at Ahsoka in wonder. Ben spoke first “You know of their story”? “Well not me, but someone I once knew told me of the sad ending of couple’s life”. She continued on. “She was taken captive by pirates years later and held for ransom. He eventually found out and against orders, went to her rescue”. “So it was a happy ending”. Ezra smiled. “I didn’t finish”. Ahsoka interrupted. “By the time he arrived to free her, the pirates were gone and she was near death. He held her in his arms as she expressed her love for him, and then she died”. No one spoke a word for several seconds. They looked at each with sorrow in their eyes. Ezra however was feeling something else, intense anger. Anger at the way people can be so cruel to one another and anger at the injustices committed by those in power, who never seem to pay for their crimes. “Well that story sucked”! Ezra shot out. 

Chapter 5

Luke had managed to stay out of trouble for a couple of weeks and his uncle seemed to be over the whole fly-by incident now. Owen was too concerned with the harvest to notice when his nephew skipped out early that afternoon and went in to town again. “He couldn’t sit still a second longer, he just had to see her again”. Windy’s image filled Luke’s mind. He had the speeder opened up all the way and was close to his destination when he decided to swing around back and surprise her. He brought the transport to a complete stop just behind the fence that kept her little sister safe inside and unwanted visitors outside from getting in. He figured that he’d climb up onto the speeders scratched and dented old hood so he could look over and get her attention. As he climbed onto the front of his machine he could hear faint voices coming from the other side. He managed to peek his head over the top of the fence when his eyes suddenly began to tear up and his stomach twisted into a knot. He lowered himself quietly back into the seat and jammed the controls forward. At leaste he thought he pushed them forward, but what he’d actually done was push it into reverse and quickly smashed into part of the fence. People scrambled to find out what had made the terrible racket but by the time they made their way into the alley, Luke was long gone. Luke knew full well that Windy was his friend, Janek’s girl going on two seasons now since they had both grown into their teens . “But she was always so nice to me”. He thought to himself. “Maybe she would get tired of Janek and realize how much he liked her”, he deluded himself. But when he peered over the fence and caught site of Janek and Windy in the middle of a deep and passionate kiss like that his heart just dropped and reality hit him square between the eyes. “She’s his and that’s all there is to it”. He admitted to himself finally. “I need to get off this rock and soon”! He yelled to no one as the speeder raced along toward home. 

Ahsoka knelt down beside Ezra who by this time had settled down and was trying to forget about the story Ben had told him. “I just can’t believe how unfair the universe can be some times”. He confided in his companion once again. “I know kid, it kind sucks but look on the bright side, it happened a long time ago and none of that matters or affects either of us”. She tried to console him. Ben and Kanan had been discussing the matter further in private when Ben decided to ask Ahsoka to join them for a moment. “What do you need”? She asked as they both looked at her with concern. “Who is this friend of yours that told you about Tahl”? Kanan asked her. “Well, I don’t usually give up my sources” she stated “But I guess it can’t hurt to tell the two of you, It’s an old business acquaintance of mine from back when I became partners with Ventress. See her and I were in the reclaiming business”. “You were thieves”. Stated Kanen. “Ok I guess you could call us that, anyway we had a contact that paid a lot of credits for certain items and then would turn around and sell them to someone else”. “Somebody in that kind of position comes across all kinds of info”. “Where might I find this, ‘friend’ of yours”? Ben wanted to know. “Oh no, I told you what I know but I’m not going back to Jaku”! She insisted.  
Instinctively Kanan hollered to the cockpit, “Plot a course for Jaku”! He ordered the copilot. As Ahsoka fell back into her seat and sulked with her arms tightly crossed. “My big mouth”. She mumbled as the rest of the crew prepared for hyperspace once again and “WOOOOOKKKK”!!!! The ship and her passengers were gone again. 

“Greetings Lord Vader”. The flickering image of an imperial officer said as the transmission’s receiver prepared to give instructions. “Admiral Thrawn, what news do you have for me”? The dark lord inquired. “I have been in pursuit of the a small rebel vessel that continues to elude our star destoyers. Its known as the ghost”. Thrawn informed his superior. “Small rebel vessels are of no importance to me Admiral, I want to know if the Jedi Kenobi still lives”. Vader insisted. “Do not fail me Admiral, I’m not as forgiving as the Emperor”. He finished and terminated the transmission, leaving Thrawn with his mouth open and about to protest. 

The ghost proceeded to the coordinates offered by the navi-computer. Approximately two hours had passed when Hera brought the craft out of hyperspace and into a small brown planets orbit. “Jaku” Shouted Sabine, looking back over her left shoulder to inform the members of the crew who were still awake. For those that might be taking a quiet nap, she flipped a toggle switch on the overhead display. Instantly a paralyzing shrill alarm sounded, sending everyone scrambling to turn it off. Sabine laughed to herself and the looked at Hera for her reaction. Hera didn’t say anything but she did shoot Sabine a look that suggested that she turn it off. She complied and went back to diagnostics once again with a smile on her face. Hera didn’t want Sabine to think she was going soft but when no one was looking she chuckled to herself none the less. Those unlucky enough to be caught off guard by the siren had all come alive and began preparing to depart again. Ben gathered his belongings and slipped his two new small treasures into the folds of his robes for safe keeping. Kanan and Ezra clipped their lightsaber hilts onto their belts and joined Ben near the loading ramp. Ahsoka reluctantly followed suit and donned a loose fitting poncho and head scarf. “We are going into dangerous territory gentlemen, stay close”. She insisted. Once free of the ship and passed the security checkpoint by bribing the officer in charge, the foursome flowed through the overcrowded streets toward the tavern that Ahsoka suggested they check out.  
The first to see the neon hover-sign above the shabby dump spelling out the word: Tilliy’s, was Ahsoka. She had been here enough times to smell it before she could see it, she remembered. Her friends joined her through the front door, one at a time and split up inside. Ben and Kanan sat at a round table near the bar while Ezra tried to be inconspicuous near the bathroom doors. Ahsoka went to the bar and coolly nodded to the Carfagian tending drinks. He nodded back and slid a cold glass of something toward her. “I’d rather have something ‘hot’ she emphasized to the bar tender, as he again nodded in acknowledgement and took the glass back and dumped its contents into the swill bin under the bar. As he did, he moved the hand under the bar slightly to the left of the bin and pushed a small black button just under the lip of the counter. Immediately the room erupted with beings from all over the room squaring off with blasters out and ready to snuff out anyone who threatened the establishment. “Woe”! Ahsoka hollered above the sound of blasters powering up. Everything went still, the only sound that could be heard was the foot traffic passing by outside and the steam slowly pouring out of a kettle behind the bar. Eyes of every shape and kind watched the newcomers for any kind of movement. But the three Jedi and Togrutan female weren’t about to give the any excuse for firing their weapons. Ahsoka was a little nervous but hid it well. She slowly put her hands down just in front of her chest as she spoke in a very calm voice…”Pon Sota, I’m a friend looking for her” Was all she said before a familiar voice from behind the bar spoke up. “What do you want with that dried up old ballclanger”? The voice asked. “Well why don’t you come out of your hole and ask me face to belt buckle”. Ahsoka fired back with attitude. Ezra was shocked by her brazen insult and swallowed what he had begun drinking just before all hell broke loose, with a loud gulp. “I hope you don’t owe anybody money, girly”. The same voice answered back. “Cause you’re about to disappear permanently”! It yelled, causing the bar tender to flinch. Just as a friendly looking pet balloot came prancing out from behind the counter and sat with its tongues hanging out, sat on the floor just in front of the young woman. Ben and Kanen both looked confused as their eyebrows shot up at the site of a four legged, hairy mop. Ahsoka looked down at the domesticated animal and started laughing. To her friend’s surprise, so did the pet ballot. “Wow, it’s been a long time Ahsoka”. Said the pleasant looking pet. “It sure has, Seff”. She conceded. By this point, Ezra had joined Ben and Kanan, who were both standing by now and walking in her direction. “Guys, Ide like to introduce you to my boyfriend” Ahsoka said nonchalantly as she knelt down and pet her old acquaintance on the top of his head. Ezra stuck his hand out until Ahsoka grabbed him by the wrist and stopped him. “He doesn’t let anyone pet him except me”. She warned. The toothy sneer on the animal’s snout confirmed as much. Out of respect, Ezra pulled his hand back and put it in his pocket. “Good choice”. Stated Ahsoka’s “Boyfriend”? Kanan beat him to it. Ahsoka looked her old buddy in the eyes and chuckled “Yeah, we go back quite a ways”. Ben wasn’t interested in the girls choice of companions and simply broke into the conversation. ”So. This is your friend”? He asked. “Yeah”. Ahsoka answered before adding “But he’s not ..THE Friend, I told of”. “What? you didn’t come here just to see me”? The animal asked sarcastically. “Hi guy’s I’m Seff”. “This is my place, welcome”. Ben and Kanen both acknowledged his hospitality with a courteous head nod to their new host. The small group got acquainted over bowels of Meerian Stew and drinks while Ahsoka and Seff reminisced. Finally after some time, Seff’s tone became serious and inquired of Ahsoka. “So what do you want with old Pon”?  
The girl looked at Seff. “I need to ask her about someone from the old days”. She admitted sorrowfully.  
Her friend lookup at her face as a tear ran down her left cheek. “Hon, you know what happened”. He nudged her. She didn’t say anything, just shook her head up and down for a second. “Ben placed a hand on the tearful girls shoulder as an act of comfort. She waited a moment and then took a deep breath and wiped her eyes on her poncho. Straightening herself up and walking to the window port in the wall next to her, she watched the beads of rain collect and flow down the plasti-glass on the outside. “I know what I’m asking, Seff, but this is important”. All eyes went to their host who was sitting on a fluffy pillow licking his front paws. He continued for a minute and then stopped and looked at her from across the room”. “Ok”. He said at last and disappeared from the room. All three of the men had questions but realized that she needed time to get herself together so they all just waited until Seff returned. Ben went on sipping his hot tea as Kanan finished off his cold ale and their youngest member had another bowel of the delicious stew. All were feeling rested and their bellies satisfied. Ahsoka refused to eat anything, food was the last thing on her mind. She waited patiently until Seff returned with a shimmering blue scarf hanging from his teeth. He laid it on the floor behind her as she spun around and plucked it up and then wrapped it neatly around the top of her head like a turban. “You know what to do sweetheart”. The animal whispered. Ahsoka placed her left hand on the small furry head of Seff and said “Thank you” before leaving. Caught off guard, Ben attempted to stand and follow after her until Seff insisted. “No, you three stay here with me, she needs to go alone”. Not sure that this was a good idea, Ezra reminded his teachers that she might need back up. Ben however understood and motioned for the young man to remain with them. “She will be safe, won’t she”? Kanan asked Seff. He then looked at Ben and shrugged his shoulders. That didn’t comfort Ezra.  
Ahsoka was familiar with the Jaku’s trade plaza and went walking up and down the isles for nearly an hour and about to lose hope when a small boy tugged on the fringe of her poncho. He turned and walked away with Ahsoka following close behind. When they were finally out of the sight of others, she watched him walk into a dilapidated old brick structure that housed the indigent at one time. She reluctantly went inside but saw no sign of the boy. She stepped across a tiny stream of something liquid on the floor before stepping on some trash that slid out from under her foot. She fell with a loud CRASH!! And found herself looking up at the same small boy and standing next to him, was the very person she had come in search of. “Hello, who might you be”? inquired the pleasant looking old woman. Her face looked kind and gentle. Her eyes slightly sad and wearing a shimmering blue scarf matching Ahsokas, covering the left side of a weathered and badly scarred face. The small boy then took a small blue crystal necklace from around his neck and placed it tightly into the old ones right hand. Ahsoka prayed silently for any sign of recollection in the woman’s face but none came. Ahsoka closed her eyes and felt hopeless. “Why so sad Ahsoka”? a voice asked. She opened her eyes and caught sight of Pon’s warm face. “Pon”? she asked. Pon shook her head to let Ahsoka know that it was really her. Ahsoka had felt all alone just days prior, only now to have all of the people that meant something to her suddenly back in her life again. It caused feelings, good feelings to overtake her now. She held back her emotions long enough to get what she had come so far to find. The boy warned Ahsoka that there wasn’t much time, the effects of the crystal lasted only a few minutes and took a serious toll on her aged friend. Wasting no time at all she quickly asked her questions and received the answers just before the light in the old woman’s eyes flickered no more and she asked. “Hello my dear, do I know you”? Ahsoka swallowed her pain and smiled at her thoughtfully. “No ma’am, I was just passing through”.  
Her three associates breathed a sigh of relief when they saw their friend come through the door at last. She didn’t stop long enough for chit chat. She gathered her belongings and bent down. “Here buddy, hold on to this for me, ok”? she asked Seff and held out the blue scarf. “Nah, you keep it, it belonged to her, she’d want you to have it”. Seff told her in a sober voice. She put her arms around his body and held him. Then just as quickly as she had come, she left with her confused companions in tow. The four fugitives made their way back through the crowds and check point only to find an empty landing bay. They looked around for some sign of their fellow ship mates when Ezra spoke up. “Hey, Its Sabine, over there”. He pointed. Kanan spotted Sabine lounging in a chair at an outdoor café waving casually. All four of them approached her and asked what she was doing and where the ship was. She didn’t seem too concerned and offered them a seat and a drink. But with her mouth still giving a toothy grin, she spoke through her teeth in a low tone so that only her three friends could hear. “Sit.. down.. and.. act.. casual.. “ She warned. “Don’t act like anything is out of the ordinary”. She finished her drink and then talked through her teeth at them again.. “I’m getting up and walking away”. “In a minute.. Ezra… get up and join me in hanger 5”. Then Kanan and then Ben do the same individually”. And with that she strode off down the street and out of sight. Ezra did as she asked, followed by Kanan and then finally Ben. When Ben arrived at hanger 5 he found his friends boarding the Ghost. He joined them inside as the ramp receded into the ship. Just seconds later the ship was rocked by laser fire. Hera didn’t wait to find out who had fired on them, she took the ship up and out of the docking station and quickly made it for the upper atmosphere. In the wake of thruster blasts, two squads of Stormtroopers stood on the ground still trying to bring the vessel down with a portable plasma canon, which was difficult enough without fighting the wind given off by the Ghost’s powerful engines. Each blast of intense energy caused the canon to jerk back from the concussion, which finally caught the trooper directly behind it, sending him soaring backward into his fellow troopers. A senior trooper arrived just in time to see the ghost disappear and his men in a pile on top of one another. The senior trooper put his hand up over his visor and closed his eyes under his helmet. “This, is not good”. He muttered to himself.  
A singular light grey imperial shuttle was approaching an unusually large star destroyer that hovered in space just above the black and red planet of Mustafar. Hailing frequencies were exchanged as protocol dictated and the official craft was permitted to commence docking procedures. The small ship floated into the docking bay from the darkness just beyond the larger ships confines. It settled on the black, shiny metalo deck among several TIE fighters. An entire battalion of identically clad white Stormtroopers marched forward and stood at attention in front of the craft accompanied by two high officers, each flanking Admiral Thrawn as he stood like a statue to greet his superior. “It’s not every day that we receive such an honored guest”. One of the officers snidely whispered so as not to be overheard. Without so much as twitching a muscle, the Admiral, standing to his left spoke with an exasperated whisper of his own. “Silence”! He ordered just under his breath, in a way that told first officer Cobol that he’d better not say another word. Thrawn had been promoted Admiral ahead of all of his peers for superior tactical skills and his natural ability for leadership. He wouldn’t tolerate any insubordination, even if it was aimed at his rival and enemy. “No one will undo all that I have accomplished”. He promised himself, as the shuttles exhaust ports shed pressure causing a warm breeze to waft passed Thrawn. The sound of pneumatic hydraulics filled the immediate area as the shuttles ramp was engaged and began to lower in front of all present. Admiral Thrawn’s serious demeanor suddenly turned to morbid curiosity and then fear as his nemesis descended the ramp and advanced toward him. As protocol dictated Thrawn raised his right gloved hand to his brow in a formal salute and spoke. “Greetings Lord Vader, It is an Ho….” Was all that came from his lips, as the tall dark knight passed in front of him without the slightest acknowledgement. Thrawns blood began to boil at the obvious slight of sheer disrespect directed at him in front of his own men! But years of self-discipline kept him from making a mistake and tipping his hand. He knew full well that any action he chose could and most certainly would, have repercussions. And he was right in thinking so. For this particular individual, however difficult, was not just his superior. He was the Emperor’s personal enforcer. Second only to the Emperor himself in authority. A strike out at Vader would bring the Emperors’ wrath! Even worse is the simple fact that Thrawn, however gifted as a military strategist, was no fighter. He lacked the skill with which to engage such an obviously gifted and experienced warrior. Vader’s reputation preceded him no matter where he went in the galaxy as an unmerciful and evil monster and unmatched with a lightsaber. Yes, Vader was deadly, and not someone to take lightly. Even so, Thrawn was an admiral in the Imperial Navy and entitled to the respect of his men. Being undermined in private over a holo-screen transmission was bad enough but to be publicly humiliated was intolerable in Thrawn’s opinion. But cooler heads did prevail and his ego would have to suffer this day if he wanted to live. Swallowing his pride and dignity, Thrawn kept pace with Vader with his lieutenants in tow closely behind. As Thrawn was able to finally meet Vader’s stride, he strained to ask “How was your flight Lord Vader”? in between the huffing and puffing. The pace was causing the Admiral to become winded. Unaffected by a lack of oxygen however or worn down by physical inadequacy, Vader showed no sign of fatigue or subsequent letup. The Admirals subordinates however, could barely keep up and could do nothing to cover their lack of conditioning. Both men fell behind and were breathing heavily and in distress by the time they caught up. The Sith Lord didn’t stop to speak. He continued on, seeming not to notice all of the men chasing behind him. In a final attempt to attract Vader’s attention, Thrawn used every last bit of energy he had left in him to speak again. “Lor….” Was sadly all he could get out before Vader approached and passed through the door to his private chambers with the doors sliding shut tightly behind him. .  
Vader was unlike any other man. On the battlefield as a young apprentice he proved to be unmatched even among his Jedi peers. But only a select few knew the truth about his actual identity. He had given up his name, his independence and his will to the one that he now addressed as Master. When tempted, he had chosen himself over all others, renouncing all that he had known and loved. Powerful in the ways of the Dark Side but a singular soul, alone. 

After nearly escaping capture or worse, Hera chose not to follow her first instinct. Which had been to turn that ship around and dive-bomb her pursuers, but then she remembered her passengers and their need to for discretion. So instead she chose to push the ship up and out of orbit and put as much distance between her and that dusty place as possible. She shifted in her seat in order to get more comfortable for the journey ahead. It was going to be a long trip and she didn’t look forward to spending it cramped up in the cockpit. She was one of the best pilots in the rebel fleet but as much as she loved the freedom of flying in space, she hated the stiffness that set in her joints and burning fatigue in her muscles after a long haul. She was a fighter pilot at heart but the way this war was going it had forced her to feel like more of a chauffeur. Everyone jumped in and out of danger and adventures, one after another while she dropped people off, just to pick them back up again like a hover-cab driver. But as she swiveled her chair to her right and spied on the tall Jedi that had stolen her attention and heart with it. “Funny how even during wartime you can still find…” She shook her head a couple of times before reprimanding herself for almost saying the one word that she swore she would never say to anyone again. “Hera, you stupid fool”. She thought. But even as she reminded herself of the pain that came along with attachment, a part of her needed. She needed something or someone to make all of this insanity bearable. She needed someone to stay alive for. She had been on her own for longer than she cared to remember until being assigned to this “Bunch of crazies” she muttered to herself without realizing it. But it was this bunch of crazies that had become her only family. “As much as I want to deny it”. She thought to herself privately, allowing herself to be vulnerable for a moment, as she looked at Kanan. “I love you”. She told him without words, but in her heart. “Was it a coincidence or could he read her mind”? She wondered as he turned his head toward her and met her eyes with his. He looked at her as though he was trying to communicate. Like he could hear her thoughts. “Does he really feel the same toward me”? She dared asked herself. Then for some reason while making eye contact, he smiled. She smiled back and told herself… “He does”. 

Ben had many questions for his young friend but had chosen to wait a while until she came to him. Now apparently the time had arrived. Ahsoka had already given Hera the coordinates for Escilor, only a few days journey from their present position. Finally she approached Ben and asked for him to accompany her into the supply hold. He followed her and closed the door behind them to avoid being interrupted. Ahsoka went first.. “I found out what you wanted to know”. She started “But I have to warn you, the final piece to this puzzle of yours, lies somewhere among the old pirates of the Black Sun Cartel” last seen in the Escilor system. Obi Wan considered the information and chose to pursue further. Ahsoka went on to explain of her friend Pon’s connection to the various pirate organizations throughout the galaxy as well as the legitimate merchant guilds, although one might seem no different than the other. Legit simply meant that they paid taxes and pirate meant that they paid bribes. Very little difference depending on how you look at it. Pon, had brokered deals all over known space and had ties to all sorts of unscrupulous people. With that territory came stories, some true, some, who knows. Information wasn’t free, that much hadn’t changed over the years since she retired. Ben went through the pockets within his robe and added up what credits he had left and passed them to Ahsoka. “I can get more if necessary”. Ben admitted, as she placed them into a small pouch that had been tied around her neck and tucked inside of her shirt. “I think this will do”. She told him, then handed it back to him before standing up and walking back to join the others. But before leaving, she stopped and looked over her shoulder at Ben, “This won’t be easy” she admitted, then finished walking out. Ben sat in solitude contemplating what to do, once he found out what he needed to know. What would it mean to him to find out the truth about Anakin? Would it change anything, would it change everything? He couldn’t say. He would have to wait for now.  
“Escilor system, coming up fast people”. Exclaimed Hera into her headset. The speakers installed all over the ship echoed her announcement, catching Ezra asleep and the rest of the crew drifting off close behind. But the news woke everyone and set them into prep mode for departure. Ben and Ahsoka took a position in front of the rear hold door and Ben motioned to get the attention of their companions. “I’m sorry my friends, but Ahsoka and I will be going on alone from this point on”. He announced. Kanan and Ezra both looked at him nodding their heads in agreement. Zed was actually relieved for the first time since they had picked up the old man and his sidekick. Sabine had other things on her mind and wasn’t exactly excited to bust in on a bunch of Black Sun anyway. Never the less, all felt the sting when it was finally time to say goodbye. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to work with you again Ahsoka”. Kanan stated and offered his hand. Ahsoka smiled, shook his hand then turned to Ezra. “It’s been fun kid, stay out of trouble”. She said warmly. Hugs and handshakes went around for a few seconds until Hera, at last emerged from the cockpit to say goodbye, then returned to her seat once again before lowering the landing gear. As they slowly descended through the atmosphere, Hera studied the gauges and blinking lights closely while warning signs furiously flickered on and off all around her. The Escilor system lived up to its reputation as a nasty place to pilot a ship. This system was notorious for being responsible for numerous ship wrecks over the years. Ships of every size and kind had broken up or disappeared completely here, due either to pirate raids or the magnetic storms constantly waging war between the three moons in orbit around the mid-sized planet of Greelish Bahl. The planet was just one of several that inhabited this area of space, made up of cloudlike nebulas consisting of gasses and debris that had collected here over time. All of this chaos existed in the shadows, just out of reach of an event horizon which circled a small black hole. This anomaly of space-time sucked up any light that might cross its path which subsequently left these satellites in perpetual darkness. Aside from the pirates that made their home here, only a select few freighter pilots and smugglers were crazy enough to navigate this cosmic soup at any given time. Worst of all was the immense gravitational pull emanating from the collapsed star, attracting bits and pieces of the surrounding star systems for ions, turning Escilor into a kind of catch basin caught in the vacuum of space. The ghost rattled and shook while preparing to land. After a few seconds, which had felt like minutes to all aboard, the ghost set down on the rocky surface of Greelish Bahl’s closest moon.  
Ben pulled his hood up over his head and went down the ramp first, followed by Ahsoka covered up again with her poncho and scarf. The swirling wind bludgeoned them before they had time to reach the bottom. Loose material from their clothes whipped around them both while trying to keep their heads down and shield their eyes from the oncoming dust filling the air in every direction. It was normal for someone to become disoriented and lost in the dust storms that frequented the surface of this small moon. But the two visitors that had just arrived weren’t just anyone. Although only one of the two was a proper Jedi, both were force sensitive and continued on in near darkness with their destination in view of their minds eye. Obi Wan stretched out with his feelings and sensed the structure looming in the distance, as did his companion. They fought against the relentless gusts of wind that tried to hold them back from advancing but neither was deterred. Ben reached for Ahsoka and grabbed her by the hand and pulled her forward. When at last coming within just a few feet away from their destination, the silhouette of a once magnificent star ship appeared from out of the dense clouds directly in Ben’s path. The ship had once been a noble vessel, the flagship of a major arms dealer who had supplied both sides of every war for centuries. Heavy with cargo and behind schedule during the clone wars, the ship’s captain had made a desperate decision to cut through this system on their way to Coruscant many years prior, only to succumb to the dense gravity and ripping forces of nature that crashed the mighty ship into this moon killing nearly everyone aboard. Ahsoka looked up at the monstrous wreckage and was able to make out what had once been large letters on the crafts hull. Now however, time and wind had sanded away all but one letter. The capital letter “H” was all that was still discernable. To anyone seeing it, the word Hell came to mind, and rightfully so. Finally as they reached the safety in the doorway of the singular structure, Ahsoka peered from under her scarf just barely able to make out the faint flair of thruster fire from the ghost as it shot off, leaving them behind and totally on their own. “It had been a long time since I felt loss while walking away from friends”. Ahsoka admitted to herself. “It’s kind of a bitter thing to say goodbye again”. She contemplated in silence just as Ben pulled the long iron lever next to the beat up makeshift door in front of him and waited for an answer. The door slid back revealing a small inner room through which they entered and waited again. A small sliding shutter in the inner door slapped open as a single large photoreceptor leaned toward Ben for a second and then examined Ahsoka before disappearing back through the opening and slamming the shutter closed again. Within seconds, the loud echo of mechanical inner workings began as timeworn gears and pins started turning and sliding into place before allowing them access at last. As they shuffled into the shabby tomb, the warm orange glow of the fire pit just ahead of them held their attention. They shed their outer protective wear and settled next to the open flames for comfort before taking notice of the surroundings. It was obvious to ben that the old ship had crashed into this moon several years ago and tipped over on its side, exposing its underside. Someone had apparently spent a lot of time cutting through the thick perma-steel underbelly of the ship in order to make a door and the set about adapting the inner chambers to suit its new owner. The floor had been one of the side walls when upright previous to the crash. Which left the other wall to make up the ceiling, and so forth. The barriers that made up the filthy walls around them were covered in sheets of metal stripped from the hulls of ships, bearing the name or call letters of all of that was left of some of the galaxies biggest freighters. But it was the putrid odor of unwashed bodies and stale ale that caught ones attention before anything else in the room. At one end of the main room hung a scratched up old sign glowing with a reddish hue that ironically said “the Sunshine Room”. The sign stood out in contrast to the dimly lit room. From out of the shadows, eyes of every sort and species where focused on them as Ahsoka leaned to one side in Bens direction and without blinking asked just under her breath “So now what master”? Ben kept his eyes roaming a minute before replying “Just stay calm and act like you’ve been here before”. He suggested and pulled open his satchel. He pulled out a small leather sack, tied at the top and made it visible for anyone who might show interest. It didn’t take long before someone did. A rather tall and muscled human female approached Ben and asked if either of them needed food or drink, while staring directly at Ahsoka, looking her up and down as if she were about to make Ben an offer in exchange for her. Ahsoka wasn’t smiling when she stood toe to toe with the amazon. Neither of them backed down and the situation seemed tense until Ben decided to intervene and asked the woman for something to drink. The masculine female then turned her attention to the droid standing close by and grunted some undiscernible command which sent the mechanism scrambling into another room as she followed. In no time she returned and dropped two mugs on the hearth next to the fire where Ahsoka stood. Ben picked up his cup and sipped it. 

Chapter 6

“Luke had finished his days chores and eaten supper in a bit of a hurry”, according to his aunt as she cleaned up the dishes on the table. Owen still sat at the end of the table finishing his last bit of warm ale. “He hasn’t said much in the last few days”. She seemed concerned. “He’ll be alright”. Stated the boy’s uncle. Beruu was wiping a glass with her dry rag and took a few steps toward the table while she continued their conversation. “I don’t know, he’s been moody at times and he has always kept to himself like most boys his age do, but this is different. This is something new”. She figured as she finished drying the glass in her hand and placed it on the shelf above the sink. “He has a look in his eyes, like…” Owen cut her off and finished the sentence for her. “His father, I know” He said. He looked at his wife’s face, that face he had spent the past twenty years looking at with affection. He told her “No sense discussing it any further”. He stated and got up and disappeared into their sleeping quarters. Beruu leaned against the counter with both arms crossed and considered her husband’s words then tossed her damp rag onto the sink and joined her husband for the night. 

The star destroyer slid through space without a sound, followed by several TIE fighters and supply ships. Inside however the lumbering colossus groaned and creaked as the cold vacuum of space stressed the vessels superstructure causing sounds of tension from deep inside. Near the main deck just below the towering bridge that straddled the Inquisitor’s main engines stood two Royal Guards dressed in the blood red cloaks and helmet customary to the bodyguards to the Emperor and his apprentice. Thrawn decided that “He wasn’t about to stand around waiting for an audience with his majesties pet any longer”. He stationed two Stormtroopers across the hall from the entrance of Vader’s sanctuary as a precaution none the less, to alert him immediately, should the Sith appear and take a stroll. The Admiral was attending to the operations of the destroyer and troop assignments while occasionally asking for status reports concerning their whereabouts. He ran a very tight ship and insisted on discipline from his officers as well as the common troopers under his command. Even though the Stormtrooper standing watch had been given explicit instructions to contact the Admiral directly, he first relayed the message to the deck officer in charge that Vader had emerged and was headed their way. Thrawn felt his blood run cold at the announcement that Vader was on the move and expected to arrive any second. He had anticipated his superior’s intentions but hoped that he would have more time before being confronted by the dark enforcer in person. But all hope disappeared as the twin blast doors to the bridge slid aside revealing the dark lord himself approaching. Again, just as before, Vader walked passed Thrawn without paying him any attention, to the main viewing port and looked out into the star speckled expanse ahead. After a tense few minutes Vader, at last spoke, in his deep, intimidating tone “Admiral Thrawn”. Lieutenant Cobol’s eyes found his peer Major Dashell, looking back at him from across the command station, as if to say, “I’m glad it’s not us”. To which Cobol simply nodded as if in agreement. The Admiral sidled up next to his commander in acknowledgement of his call at last. Thrawn now took his usual deportment, squaring his shoulders and puffing out his chest as he was accustomed to and his rank allowed, only having his ego crushed under the weight of the dark knight’s indifference. “I want to be informed the moment this ship comes within transmission range. I will speak with the Emperor as soon as possible”. Vader commanded and once again turned to leave. His last words wrung in Thrawns ears as Vader exited the bridge. “Allow no delay”! He voiced with an impatient timber. The twin doors slid closed behind him while the Admiral stood his ground, clenching his fists and grinding his molars. Vader marched to his own beat, answering to no one except his master. When out of his emperor’s sight, he enjoyed the freedom to move unhindered. Inflicting his will and certain pain on anyone who dared ignore his presence or decree. He had no patience, no tolerance for those weaker than he. His attitude was akin to arrogance yet not ego that drove him. He alone bore the mantle of “the chosen one”, instrument of the dark side that would bring balance to the force, and the galaxy. His life had purpose, a singular goal which left him unburdened by need or want of admiration. He needed only one thing and that was power, unlimited power. He contemplated how his former master and the members of the Jedi council would discuss his abilities and argue over his role in future events. Master Qui Gon had believed in him from the beginning, yet others doubted his worth. The Jedi were mistaken to assume that the chosen one would be an advocate of the light. It was obvious to Vader that he was destined to bring a different kind of balance, one where the dark side would tip the scales back to where it belonged. “The Force wasn’t unbalanced in favor of dark, it had been light that occupied the majority role in the galaxy for far too long”. He surmised. “Now it is time for the Dark side to emerge and set things straight”. He thought to himself while reaching the entrance to his chambers once again and left only his two crimson guards to keep watch. Meanwhile Admiral Thrawn resumed his role as senior officer and ordered the destroyer forward. Thrawn tried desperately to focus on the task at hand and his command of this vessel, but he couldn’t forget the disdain in Vader’s voice as he dismissed himself earlier. 

Ahsoka was feeling uneasy in her role of sidekick on this mission. She wasn’t accustomed to being led anymore. Since leaving the Jedi, she had enjoyed complete autonomy. Even under the tutelage of Ventress, she was free to come and go at will. “She had great respect for Ben but still found it difficult to be the follower this time”. She and Obi Wan hadn’t sat for very long before some of the locals began taking an interest in the two newcomers. “You’re sitting in my spot”. Bellowed a short stocky Gamorean as he advanced on Ahsoka. She paid no attention even when he stood over her, slobber rolling down his chin. “I said, you are in my spot” The pig like alien grunted. “If you wanna sit there it’ll cost you”. He insisted and motioned to his friends to join him. “Ben began to stand when Ahsoka touched the hem of his robe and pulled him back. She then stood facing the Gamorean and his cohorts. “Well, I’m very sorry, I didn’t know this spot belonged to you”. She said in a sing song sort of way, flashing a shy sort of smile. The Gamorean became cocky, noticing her sheepish demeanor. His friends began laughing in a menacing tone behind him causing him to become even bolder. “Yeah girly, looks like you’re gonna have to find a way to pay me and my boys”. Ben shook his head and sighed. He knew full well what was about to happen. The Gamorean decided it was time to push the advantage and grabbed for Ahsoka’s arm, when she suddenly sprung into a defensive stance, flipped a switch with each thumb and let loose her twin white lightsabers instantaneously amputating both of his arms and removing his head from its perch. Cries and screams exploded all over the room as the once ominous gang dispersed in every direction. A second later Ahsoka stood alone next to Ben who hadn’t bothered to move. She disengaged her weapons, returned them to their places and sat down next to her friend. “So much for keeping a low profile”. Ben snickered.  
No one approached either of them again for quite a while until word reached the owner of the establishment. Knardd was the sole proprietor of this steaming pile of refuse known only to the lowest of the low, as “the sunshine room”. A misdirected name if ever there was one. Pirates, thieves, mercenaries, you name it. If there was dump anywhere in the galaxy for riffraff, this was beneath it. Among the fodder of space, this was hallowed ground. A sanctuary for the baddest of the bad to hold up while the heat died down. Knardd was a well-known and respected ex-pirate. He retired when he lost his left leg in a fiery blaster exchange with the authorities while trying to escape custody. Then he chose to cash in all of his favors and dug up all the credits he’d buried throughout the system and bought this place from its previous owner, Mott Tilley. Mott had been a pirate back before most of them were born and had scavenged the galaxy with his two other companions. Mott took his money and relocated to a resort planet somewhere in the inner rim never to be heard from again. Since taking over he tried to preserve the ambiance and clientele of the old place. This is where pirates came to die. Obi Wan was summoned to follow the amazon female when she finally came back and motioned to him. He told Ahsoka to hang back and keep her eyes open. But from the looks on the other customer’s faces, she knew she’d be just fine till he got back. Ben accompanied his guide through several rooms to an office of some kind, nestled in the furthest corner of the building, equipped with a wall of surveillance displays from every angle of the bar. Nothing escaped the owner’s notice, which is why this place had lasted so long. Ben entered the large room and stood waiting for his host to make his appearance. He didn’t have to wait long. Ben stood on a filthy carpet in the center of the room facing a desk surrounded by mementos left over from the war for independence. This room was a shrine to the destruction waged on society during the clone wars. Reminders piled high of the toll taken, the death toll. As if on cue a fat old human with a beard to his naval and no hair on his head came into the room from behind Ben and put his meaty arm around Bens shoulders. “You Like it”? He asked. “Well, it certainly retains a feeling of finality”. He responded as Knardd displayed a broad smile of pride. “Yeah, that’s what I was going for”. Snorted Knardd. The odd looking business man wiped his grease covered left arm on his dirty wife beater and took his seat behind the messy desk. “So, what can I do for you friend”? The man asked Ben. Ben decided to play it safe and wait a bit before admitting his reason for coming so far beyond friendly space. Instead he chose to turn the subject to the various trophies’ that lined the walls. It was evident to him that it would be more advantageous to acknowledge the man’s evident obsession with all things war, in order to find a common ground. Then steer the conversation around to his needs only after allowing his foe to reach the conclusion first as though it were his own idea. Ben pointed out one particular object that was familiar to him, a plasma cannon like the ones used by the clones he lead on several campaigns in his younger days. “You ever fire that piece”? Ben asked, turning his attention to Knardd. “Hell, too many times to count, long before my pirating days, back when I was a soldier”. He offered. “You fought in the clone wars”? Ben was curious. “Sure was, I was attached to Bravo detail under a general named Kenobi”. He explained. Ben showed no reaction but was startled inside at hearing his name. It occurred to him that this man must have been one of the thousands of clone troopers that had been ordered and delivered to the old republic.  
Due to the passing of so much time since the end of the conflict and the color of Ben’s hair turning greyish white, the clone didn’t ostensibly recognize him. He chose to remain anonymous and play the part of a fellow soldier from another part of the galaxy in order to keep things friendly. “I was conscripted into the service myself”. He said before constructing a solid alibi for his whereabouts in conjunction to his real station at the time. “I was drafted into the regimental reserves and stationed in the outer rim until the fighting stopped. Im afraid I don’t have any good stories to swap with you”. The old pirate laughed and said “That’s alright, no shame in following orders, we couldn’t all be in the thick of it I guess”. Good for you though, doing your part instead of running away and hiding like some others did”. Allowed Knardd “So you didn’t get to do any fighting or see any action, I guess I saw enough for both of us to share”. He graciously extended to his fellow veteran with a disarming smile. Ben almost felt bad for not revealing his identity but continued on as he’d planned. “I wasn’t fortunate enough to be assigned to the inner core but I did have the opportunity to meet a Jedi once, before it was all over”. Ben expounded. “He was on leave shortly before the war concluded; I believe his name was Sky something”. “Walker”! Knardd yelled! “Sky walker”. He emphasized with excitement in his voice. “Yes, that was it”. Ben stated deceivingly just before Knarrd started into a tale of epic proportions involving General Skywalker, first officer Rex and himself on the planet of BIG bugs” as he so eloquently put it. Ben saw the fire return to the old soldier’s eyes as he entertained his new buddy about the droid army and how good he had gotten at dismembering them in the field. Then as quickly as he had begun talking about the old days, he unexpectedly stopped and his face took on a disturbing and forlorn guise. He went mute for just a few ticks of the chrono on the wall next to him before speaking again. This time it wasn’t excitement or nostalgia that fueled his expression, it had been replaced with an air of dread and horror the likes of which Ben hadn’t counted on. The serious tenor in the man’s voice was evident as he slumped back into the chair behind him like he had the wind knocked out of him and whispered only two words, “the order”.

Meanwhile nearly half a galaxy away, aboard the (A-Class) Super Star Destroyer Inquisitor a very different story was playing out in the recesses of a troubled mind. Somewhere deep in the bowels of the massive ship, hidden away from the Admiral as well as the rest of the irrelevant defense force operating the mechanical behemoth, the Sith lord approached as the upper and lower half of his personally constructed meditation chamber lit up. Like a giant pair of hands with fingers interlocked, the two halves separated allowing its singular resident access. He entered and turned around, taking his seat in the center. Just outside the main entrance door to his apartment, the royal guards remained stationed in place like motionless monoliths, prepared to burst into defensive action at the slightest provocation. Conversely however, beyond the fortified door to the foreboding apartment sat a smaller chamber within. The cylindrical ebony outer shell hid an equally contrasting bright white inner sanctum, offering respite and solace to its occupant. The bright white inner lining of the device that held him also freed him. It was from this sinister and unapproachable throne of introspection that the Sith lord sought liberation from the constraining bridle created by his master. The irony of his situation was not lost on him in the least. He was well aware that his liberator, the one who had previously offered him “freedom” from the dogmatic code that bound the Jedi, was also the very one who had him placed within this dark nightmare of armor. And at the same time, Vader actually found himself somewhat envious of his master’s gift for foresight. Lord Sidious had seized an opportunity to lend aid and take advantage of his situation all at once. It was only after time had passed and he had time to ponder on his subsequent condition that he became aware of the invisible leash that tethered him to Sidious. His dark majesty had without question given him autonomy but at what unseen price. He had also managed to place Vader in his debt and under his control as well. Vader was, as he concluded “More machine, than man now”. Even so, he persisted, remaining vigilant in claiming his ultimate destiny apart from Sidious. As master and apprentice, in accord with Lord Bane’s design, the Sith would continue follow the “rule of two” in order to achieve the endgame. It was the duality of Sith nature that at some point the student would accelerate in his dark training and one day overpower the teacher and claim dominance. But Vader knew that “dominance in the Sith tradition really meant… “Kill”… and take his place.”  
And so it had been for over a thousand years. It then suddenly occurred to Vader that Bane must have enacted the “rule of two” just previous to the time of Master Yoda’s birth. “How curious”. He reflected. Following its design, snake-like fingers of various tubes and wire harnesses had linked with his suit and the apparatus that fed his body the nutrients needed to sustain him, he pressed a square green key located on the side of his demi-throne. Once enacted, an automated arm gently lowered from the ceiling above him and removed the shiny black dome from the top of his head. It slipped the headpiece up over the unusually pale skinned cranium, pocked and scared with a great fissure that extended from the left forehead all the way up and back to his crown. The mask as well unlocked and disengaged with a click and a soft hiss. Immediately the suit followed its programing retracting tiny, razor sharp sensor rods digging into the flesh of his head. The ghastly sound of the breathing pump controlled from the switches on his blinking chest piece ceased and the visor lenses that sat atop sharp metallic cheekbones went dark. He was free of his walking tomb once more. 

Ahsoka lounged next to the flames that danced within the ring of stones in the center of “the sunshine room” awaiting a sign from Ben, which didn’t appear likely anytime soon. It seemed that since the incident involving the Gamorean and his cronies hadn’t paid off, no one else in attendance looked as if they had either the stomach for fighting or a reserve of limbs that they were anxious to give up. That suited her just fine. At least up until the rust coated entrance gave way in a hail or sparks and smoke. Everyone in the room skittered in all directions to stay clear of the barrage of laser blasts that shot forth from the gaping hole in the wall. Meanwhile sequestered in the back office behind a thick blast door, Ben inquired about the gloom that had come over his hosts face all of a sudden. “I don’t mean to pry into your personal business” Ben stated “But are you alright”? He asked. Knardd looked up from his daydream and commenced to speak slow and softly as if shame was muffling his voice. “It was the day, …the day the order came across the command frequency in our helmets”. He blustered as if wounded. “I was among the eighty eighth battalion under General Shaak Ti of the Jedi order”. He went on. Ben noticed the slight tremor in the old soldier’s hands as he continued. “We had followed our Jedi commanders on countless campaigns, Hell, The general herself saved me from canon fire on more than one occasion”. “We were comrades at arms, fighting side by side in the dirt for months when it all came crashing down”. Knardd stopped and gazed past Bens head at the endless collection of battle badges stuck to the wall. “We were comrade’s, we were comrades”. He kept repeating under his breath like some ritual chant designed to take away the pain. Ben couldn’t wait any longer, the conversation was headed for uneasy territory and he still needed answers. Abruptly, Ben put his hand on his new friends shoulder. Knarrd snapped out of his trance for a second as Ben asked about the pirates that had taken a Jedi woman hostage some years back. The old man’s face lightened up and his eyes flickered with a sign of recognition. “The Jedi woman”. “Yes, the one the pirates held for ransom until she was rescued”. Knardd’s face softened as he confessed to Ben. “Yeah, I know that story from this places previous owner Mott”. “See just after the war, when we were decommissioned and tossed out of the army like garbage”. “They said they didn’t want clones anymore because we weren’t necessary, then they replaced us”. He spat disgusted. “You have to understand, I had been lost and hungry after being discharged. Just like so many of my brothers. I finally ended up being taken in by a group of pirates that needed muscle”. His countenance fell as he confessed. “I had to forget all about honor, I took up pillaging and thievery just to survive”. He stopped and and took a deep breath to calm himself. “But after I lost my leg…everything changed and I retired and bought this place off old Mott”. He told me the story of the woman who caused his band of misfits to break up”.  
“You see Din’ Jarr, Mott’s best friend had a plan to take over a short range cruiser carrying ammunition. They waited till they were out of the asteroid belt when they attacked! They hit hard and fast while they tried to outrun Mott’s crew but Mott had the advantage of speed and cut them off before making it into hyperspace. They boarded the ship expecting expensive cargo, but what he found was a woman. She was sick it looked like and in no condition to put up a fight. He restrained her and decided to ask for ransom to make up for all our trouble. But things got complicated real fast and then”. Ben asked “what happened next”. As Knardd finished his tale. “She turned out to be pregnant, very pregnant. They received a transmission almost immediately, after putting out word that he had the woman, like someone wanted her for some reason. But then they get a second transmission from another party offering a reward. Well he figured we hit the jack pot and decided to let the two parties wage a bidding war for her. He accepted both offers and figured he’d disappear as soon as they had the credit transfers and keep both bids for themselves. But it blew up in their faces. It was greed that got em in the end. The Jedi came to rescue the girl, but by then it was too late, she was near death from hemorrhaging so bad in delivery”. Ben took immediate interest. “What Jedi, he wanted to know”. “Why the baby’s father of coarse”. Knardd answered abruptly. “Wait, you’re saying the Jedi, was the baby’s father”? Asked Ben. “Yes, the girl told Mott the story while I held her hand just before everything went to hell”. He continued. “See, it turned out that she and the father had been secretly in love”. “But someone else was in love with her as well. He was some high ranking Jedi who sat on some council or something. When she told him no, he used his position to separate them, out of jealousy”. “Later when she turned up pregnant, the jealous Jedi had made arrangements for some unknown person to purchase the child and make it disappear”. Ben pondered the details before asking “It was a girl wasn’t it”? to which Knard frowned and said “No, Mott said baby boy”. Now Ben looked really perplexed. ”A boy”?! Ben’s face now registered shock”. “A second pregnancy”?! He said to himself before asking. “Who was the Jedi and what happened to the baby”? “The baby had been born before the Jedi, or the other vessel arrived”. “The other interested party arrived first, he paid Mott and took the baby, totally ignoring the woman and leaving her”. “That ship left just before the Jedi arrived and fought his way onto Mott’s ship. He abandoned ship and took the Jedi’s craft as payment and disappeared”. “He left mother and father on his old heap, floating free in space. No idea what ever happened to them”. Knardd finished. Ben was silent at first but then looked at Knardd and told him the story’s ending, with the woman “dying in her lover’s arms”.  
Ben had attended her funeral at the Jedi temple but never heard of the boy, or who the father was or that it had been her second pregnancy. “Can you tell me anything about the man that took the baby”? Ben asked. “Mott told me he was a tall fellow, dressed in black robes and with a hood covering his head. But Mott was certain that, he had been a Munn, from the Intersteller Banking Cartel”. Then Knardd took hold of Obi Wan;s lapel and pulled him closer, with new intensity in his eyes. “This was no ordinary Munn, Mott told me, he seen his share of em, but this one made the hair on the back of his neck stand up”! Knardd specified, then added. “His face was hidden under that hood, but when he looked Mott’s way he saw his eyes, damndest thing he’d ever seen”. Ben listened intently before deciding not to mention to his host that the woman had also been a Jedi or that it was all master Windu’s doing. It would serve no purpose now. “She told me his name”. Knardd finally admitted. Ben grabbed Knards shoulders in anticipation, as the door to the office burst open and a horde of Stormtroopers pushed their way into the room! Ben reacted instantly, leaping into the air and returning their laser bolts back at them with his lightsaber. The troopers didn’t even have time to aim, as the Jedi tore through their ranks, cutting off limbs and slashing open pieces of armor. The volley ceased at last with the smell of smoke and burning flesh all around. Ben disengaged his weapon and clipped it back onto his belt unaware that his cohort had taken fire and dropped to the floor. Ben returned to his friend who was now lying face down and motionless on the carpet with a smoldering plasma burn in his back. Ben knelt beside him and gently turned the body over. Much to his delight, he noticed the man’s chest rise and fall which meant he still lived. He cradled his friends head in his hand as Knardd opened his eyes. “I hate those phony troopers”. He gasped, as a trickle of bright red blood poured from the corner of his mouth and ran down Bens forearm and dripped to the floor. “Lay still my friend” Ben told him, but Knardd struggling to speak. “Can’t believe it ends like this” He squeezed out between gasps for air. “At least I went down fightin… side by side with you..” Then the words …“General Kenobi”. Slipped from his lips. Ben was in shock. The old veteran had pretended not to recognize him. “He knew all this time” Ben smiled. Just as Knardd fought to form the words...“ Baby’s father, Mott told me”. His voice dropped to just below a whisper, then his eyes glazed over and his heart slowed and then stopped.  
Ben gently lowered his head to the blood stained floor as he closed the soldier’s eyes and sat next to him on the carpet, stunned. He had, had his suspicions over the years, of how master Windu had changed, but he had no clue of him selling babies. It sickened him as he thought about it. “Who and why did he arrange to sell the child to” he wondered. He had been aware of the daughter Tahl had created. But nothing of a second baby. And to finally confirm the heritage of his one time student and friend, rocked Obi Wan to his core. But as for the name of the Jedi who fathered the child, that seemed lost with Knardd. He was so taken aback that he failed to hear Ahsoka enter the room, brandishing her twin, white sabers and hollering his name. “I’m so relieved”. She told Ben while extinguishing her weapons and reconnecting the matching hilts to her belt. Out of breath and rushing with adrenaline she let loose “You were gone so long, and then the front door explodes… and about a hundred Stormtroopers piled in and started shooting up the place. I didn’t waste any time, I jumped up and charged at them with both blades lit and…” On and on she went describing all of the gory details and of how she took on practically the whole empire by herself just outside. She didn’t stop until she had run completely out of breath and couldn’t speak another word. She stood bent at the waste with a hand on each knee trying to catch her wind. She huffed and puffed for nearly a minute before realizing she was all alone, in a room full of smoldering corpses. “Somewhere between barging in, and now, her companion must have slipped out” She thought to herself. “How rude”! She decided as she walked back down the hallway to the front room. There in the midst of all the carnage stood Ben. He still hadn’t spoken a single word and Ahsoka was now starting to worry. She was dying to know what he found out, but she remembered how he’d respected her privacy earlier, and gave her time to digest everything. She decided to afford him the same courtesy, ..for now at least.

The first sun orbited by Tatooine rose slowly in the east followed by its twin star just moments later. Luke stood on the edge of the house pit that lay below his feet and watched the daystars sluggishly race above the horizon. He liked to watch both the sunrise and sunset each day. It was beautiful and serine. “If he ever left this planet someday, he probably wouldn’t miss anything about this place, except for the twin suns Rodius and Nellus”. He wistfully thought to himself.  
Luke recalled his aunt telling him the tale of the two stars as a child. She would tuck him in bed and while sitting next to him, tell him stories of “beautiful worlds filled with strange and wonderful beings, star ships and even about Tusken lore, his favorite when he was little”. How the “Sandpeople were an odd race of beings that were the original inhabitants of this world. Back before the cataclysm”. She spoke of their society and culture. About their myths and legends, such as the “twin stars, who both fell in love with the fair madden Tatooine. And how she refused to pick one above the other. So they race everyday across the sky in competition for her. It all seemed so silly now, but back then his imagination would soar. He especially liked when his aunt would tell him the scary “story of the great cataclysm”.  
According to traditional history.”The sky turned to fire one day, drying up all the water on the planet and killing all the vegetation and most of the Tuskens. They were burned and forced to wrap themselves in bandages and cloth to hide their faces”. Luke almost felt bad for them. But then, years of fighting their raiding parties had done little to influence him with any genuine empathy for them”. He admitted to himself. 

Several star systems away, Ben rested on the lounge cushions trying to make sense of what happened here in the past 24hrs. He tried sorting through his memories that coincided with the events described by his deceased friend, as he filled in the timeline it was apparent that a Jedi master had secretly sired two children, unknown to the Jedi council, clear back when Obi Wan was just a young Padiwaan. But with this new revelation, it seemed, Jedi Master Windu had known of the love affair and manipulated events to keep the lovers apart after learning of her second secret. Ben was aware of the fact that Mace Windu had a reputation for being strict concerning the Jedi code. But he would never have suspected that he would allow something like jealousy to overtake him. And to blatantly abuse his authority and power in such a petty display. It still sickened him now, that he had allowed master Windu to chastise and humiliate his padiwaan on multiple occasions within the council chamber. He had stood by making excuses for master Windu’s obvious prejudice as Anakin struggled to keep himself in the light. “How blind could I have been”? he lamented in private. Ahsoka however, was busy at gathering the loose credit chips all over the floor that hadn’t been destroyed by the plasma flashes and laser bursts that had threatened to burn everything within the ships durra-steel hull, before being extinguished.” Ahsoka’s hands were black with soot and her clothes reeked of smoke” she realized. She found Ben and told him to “sit tight while she checked outside for some kind of transport to get them off this dirt ball”. Ben motioned then returned to his thoughts. His mind wandered from memory to memory until coming across one of master Yoda when he used to regale stories to the younglings at the temple when he was little. “How quickly, time had passed since then”. He realized.  
Ben stood and looked around a moment, aware of a presence somewhere nearby, that wasn’t familiar. He inspected the smaller rooms off the hallway when he found himself confronted by the silhouette of a large male, next to a much smaller silhouette, of what he thought looked like Ahsoka. He gestured to the light switch on the wall several feet behind him and illuminated his company. The smaller of the two was most certainly Ahsoka, as for the large man holding a blaster to the side of her head, he seemed strangely familiar. “Don’t do anything foolish friend”. The interloper suggested. “I wouldn’t hear of it”. Ben tossed back. “How about you back on up a bit and this little girl and I will join you in the main room”. Said the intruder. With that Ben began taking short and deliberate steps backwards until inside the bar room, as the stranger and his captive advanced slowly to join him. Once the three were inside the bar, the man with the blaster looked around at all of the damage and dead corpses. “wrrr”. He whistled in surprise. “You too must be the baddest duo in the galaxy, by the looks of this place”. He said, still inspecting the mess. Then he looked at Ben and asked. “Where’s Knardd”? Ben wasn’t quite sure what kind of response he was going to get but chose the truth as usual. “I’m afraid he passed away”. Ben informed him. “I wasn’t his murderer, I assure you”. He offered. “As a matter of fact he and I were old acquaintances”. The mystery man stared at the old Jedi and asked “What battalion was he in during the clone wars”? He demanded! “Eighty Eighth under Kenobi”. He answered. The man considered the reply a second and then lowered the blaster aimed at Ahsoka. He smiled and raised his right hand. “Captain J” He offered and sat down on a filthy stone slab. “Knardd and I were brothers and best friends back then. We stayed close even after the ‘Big Push”. He explained. Ahsoka wasn’t in the mood for old war stories, she wanted to pull her sabers out and cut him in half for holding that gun to her head. But one thing experience had taught her was “Never kill someone until you’re sure you don’t need him”. One of Ventress’ little tips she had picked up. She glared in his direction but held her tongue until the man made eye contact with her and spoke to her surprise. “You’re Ahsoka, aren’t you”? He asked as she looked to Ben. “How do you know her name” Ben asked him. “Actually, I know both your names” he went on “Back in those days I was called T-8802, my friends called me Dutch, and so did you”. He said with a crooked grin that gave him away, instantly becoming recognizable to both of them. “Dutch!, Holy shaz”! Ahsoka hollered in excitement and ran over and punched him squarely in the shoulder. He brushed it off like he hadn’t even felt it, while on the inside he felt a little tear coming on, he was getting old and it hurt. “Hey! Easy there killer”. He joked. Ben also approached the old veteran and shook hands. “Pardon me but you look sort of like Dutch as I remember but not, at the same time”. Dutch laughed. “Yeah, it’s amazing how money makes almost anything possible”. “When Knardd and I switched from soldier to… importers” he winked at them both. “I put together enough money to get reconstruction surgery; you can’t imagine how hard it is to hide, when there are literally thousands of guys walking around who look exactly like you”. He swore. Ben and Ahsoka both laughed. The idea had never even occurred to either of them. “I guess that would make it a little tough for an…importer”. Ahsoka emphasized.  
The three friends continued to get reacquainted, until the sound of an explosion outside and the structure all around them shook violently. “Uh Oh, time to leave my friends”. Dutch told them and headed for the main door, only to be knocked back inside as a blast of plasma collided with the ground just in front of the exit. Ben and his partner helped him back up and all three of them retreated to the back office and through a door leading outside on the opposite side of the crashed wreckage. A voice came from somewhere and looking at Dutch’s wrist-com, he yelled “get us outta here Skud”! Instantly, bright lights flashed in their faces, nearly blinding them as the old pirate grabbed them both by the elbows and ushered them straight ahead until stepping on something that that clanked. “Climb aboard, you go first Ahsoka and then you Ben, I’ll be right behind you”. Dutch yelled over the roaring sound of turbines kicking on. They scrambled up the latter one at a time and the lower hatch door closed. Dutch slammed his closed fist against the bulkhead a couple times while hollering “Ok”! To some unseen subordinate who knew exactly what the captain meant and steered the old freighter away from the hail of plasma canons overhead. They peered out of a side port of the vessel, chins dropping open in awe as they looked upon a monstrous vessel that stretched on in every direction like none of them had ever seen. Ahsoka suddenly realized that they were in the shadow of the Newest Star Destroyer, that she was told about, but never seen in person. The F-Class Dual Hull, colossus named ‘The Mammoth’, hovering just above in competition with the small moon for the most space taken. Hearts dropped and stomachs tensed as the freighter banked off to one side and rocketed out of orbit and straight for the asteroid belt. It was a virtual graveyard for old starships and mid to full scale Space-liners, not to mention space debris of every size and kind. “We’ll be able to make our getaway once we make it to the belt”. Captain Dutch announced. “They wouldn’t dare risk trying to bring that big pile of scrap in there”. He stated confidently. Ben still stood looking up, “I’m not so sure.” He murmured.  
Chapter 7

“Time almost seemed to stand still sometimes, alleged Admiral Thrawn while gazing out into the vast expanse of space from the transpar-lumin window just behind his desk. His personal quarters were sparsely furnished and by all accounts austere. Light grey ceiling and matching walls, no personal items, neutral colors and no carpeting, a simple desk and an adequate chair, provided due his rank, but not too comfortable so as to encourage laziness. His office matched the man. His light grey formal jacket, perfectly quaffed hair and pants, dark and pressed with precision and posture, straight and tall. Thrawn was all about details. “His intellect had served him well as a young cadet and his personal discipline was noticed immediately by his instructors and his rise through the ranks was nothing short of meteoric”. “So why am I unsatisfied”? He asked his reflection in the viewport. Long before going to the academy as a boy, Thrawn had been an exceptional child, believed his mother. “She even told me so”. He remarked to his reflection, as though expecting an argument. “ So why does Vader’s attention continue to elude me”? He insisted of his transparent self, who continued to mockingly stare back at him. He was furious and his temperament grew angrier by the second until he finally swung his chair around to avoid seeing himself and brought his right fist down with maximum force! Just before impact with the top of his desk, within millimeters, he froze and his fist stopped! “Discipline wins over emotion every time”. He said out loud and then turned back to his reflection in defiance and straightened his collar. He was now prepared to meet the day. “Good day sir”! He snapped at his reflection.  
Not a single sole among the Two thousand seven hundred and eleven crewmembers, soldiers and officers aboard the Star Destroyer Inquisitor, had any idea of the darkness that grew within one of the multi-level decks of their great ship. Even the Admiral was ignorant to the shifting tide of the force emanating from his superiors quarters. Only the two force sensitive Crimson Guards standing watch could feel the unmistakable pull inside. Like an otherworldly gravity, the Dark side energy manifested around Vader’s ominous crypt like a swirling tempest. Within its smooth, metallic shell, Darth Sidious’ one and only apprentice sat, his body at rest but his mind a shattered mosaic of conflicted thought and untamed, raw emotion. Images from his past flashed and disappeared just as quickly, to be immediately replaced with another. A powerful vortex engulfed the entire star destroyer sending its gauges and controls haywire. Sensors were registering an increase in electromagnetic energy building all around the vessel causing jagged bolts of intense white lightning to arc across her bow! While inside, Vader’s mind was at war between the dark and the light. Images of Padme’ induced raging torrents of force lightning to erupt all over the ship! The painful vision of betrayal by his best friend! The sight of his mother’s face as she died in his arms! As the crew ran in every direction, searching for sanctuary from the violent hurricane that shook the destroyer and threatened to tear the mighty war ship apart from within, Admiral Thrawn fought his way to the lower deck from the bridge in search of the emperor’s enforcer. On reaching the entryway to Vader’s apartment he discovered the two watchmen missing and the sliding doors damaged and forced apart. He slid through the opening and saw his master’s two rubicund escorts trying desperately to open the sarcophagi. The furious and repeated banging of their fists against the hull of the chamber finally caught their master’s attention. As he came back to his senses, taking control of his emotions and calming his mind, the storm around him dissipated and was gone. The upper half of the iron case split from the bottom half and what appeared like the jaws of a great beast about to devour, opened wide and halted. Thick steam poured from the inside until at last, Vader materialized from out of the fog and inspected his bodyguards lying on the ground, unconscious next to the lifeless body of Thrawn. He advanced and casually stepped over them as he exited the room. 

A new day was slowly beginning on Tatooine, The temperature rose twenty degrees within just a few minutes as the first of the twin suns began, once again, its race for the day. Luke stumbled out of bed and down the stairs to the eating room, finding his uncle making short work of his bowl of grainmeal. His aunt stood vigil over a boiling pot while he took his seat at the opposite end of the table and picked up a spoon. He managed to open his mouth just enough to let.. “Gmorning”. Slip from his lips, without opening his eyes. His uncle let out a little laugh as he looked up from his food and told his nephew, playfully. “You look like a ‘gondarf’ that just had its ears ripped off”, Continuing to chuckle while returning to his meal. Luke wasn’t able to muster a sense of humor this early in the morning. He put his forearms down on the table and plopped his head down on them. “Owen, I think someone’s been out too late”. His aunt smiled. Owen nodded his head in agreement and raised his hands up about eye level before bringing them both down, palms first. “Baammm”!!! Lukes head shot up and back so quickly that the momentum rocked him backward, tipping his chair over and landing on the floor, on his back with his feet in the air. Both his uncle and his aunt burst out laughing while he tried to get up. “He’s wide awake now!” Aunt Beruu shouted to her husband, who nearly fell off, his chair! Everyone was enjoying themselves but poor Luke. The boy dusted himself off and sat back down, looked at his uncle with a smirk, and waited for him to catch his breath. “Ha ha”. He teased. It took his uncle close to three minutes to stop giggling and breath normal again. Luke sat looking at his uncle with eyes drooping and face glum. “What’s the matter boy, you in love or something”? His uncle asked jokingly. Instanly, the boys eyes opened wide and he had guilt written all over his face! Beruu turned around and studied Luke’s expression. “What? A girl?” She asked bewildered. Owen realized that he had accidentally let, what Luke had told him in confidence, slip out. He knew it was up to him to cover for the boy, to save him embarrassment. “No, no.. I was just teasing him”. Owen told his wife assuring her that it had been a joke. Beruu seemed satisfied and didn’t goad him any further and returned to her cooking. Luke and his uncle made eye contact behind her back and Luke mouthed, thanks, without making a sound. Owen winked back at him and smiled before getting up. “C’mon, let’s get to it while you’re still young”. Owen barked. Luke followed him up the stairs and went about the days chores.

A vast field of asteroids tumbled freely within the gravitational gap created between the second and third moons off Greelish Bahl providing Dutch’s ship cover for a few minutes while his first mate, Skud, plotted a coarse outa the system without attracting any further imperial attention. It had been a miracle that they had escaped the star destroyers notice due in part to the small size and shape of the cruiser. Fortunately, pirates in this sector knew enough to remove some of the panels on the outer hull of their vessels in order to give off an unusual signature while being scanned. To the young and inexperienced junior officer working the comm on the destroyer’s bridge, they appeared to be nothing more than a clump of space debris or trash floating carelessly through occupied space. So long as it didn’t endanger or interfere with their movement, it would simply be ignored. Skud had plenty of experience flying the craft in a seemingly random pattern to avoid suspicion and thus detection. The mega-destroyer continued to bombard the tiny moon until the deck Sargent was convinced that they had successfully destroyed anything living on the devastated satellite. He called for a ‘cease fire’ order at which time the Major in charge sent word to Admiral Janekx and awaited further orders. Once permission was given to depart and return to the Imperial space station at Qatarus-4, the enormous thrusters compelled the vessel forward and away from the bandit’s position in a slow deliberate progression before calling on the main drive and disappearing into a point of light.  
The modest craft with its unorthodox hull configuration drifted on through the minefield of mineral chunks flowing gently in a circle around each of the last two moons before being snatched up by the event horizon ahead and sent spinning into oblivion. The space pirates pilot used only impulse jets to nudge their ship away from the impending doom that awaited them, should they stray too far. Dutch knew this maneuver well. It had kept him out of prison on several instances in the past. “I think we’re safe for now”. Hollered a voice somewhere below the floor grate under Ahsoka’s feet . She instinctively pulled her knees to her chest and peering down past her boots, at the floor. Dutch let out a short laugh before introducing his mechanical engineer and friends. “Little lady, It gives me great pleasure to introduce you to my ship and its crew”. Extending his hand. “This technological monstrosity”, he gestured in a sweeping circular motion while looking up, “Is the careful culmination of years’ worth of tinkering and fine tuning by one of the best minds of our age, Murkyl’ Gat”. At hearing the mention of his name, the mechanic stuck his hand up out from under the floor tile to shake hands with Ben who promptly bent forward and reciprocated in kind. Then just as quickly he retracted it and vanished out of sight and returned to his work. Ahsoka kept her feet from touching the floor, just the same. “Next is my pilot extraordinaire, Skudlar Toffet, referred to affectionately by all as.. Skudd”. The skinny, scruffy and young looking pilot jerked his head and simply replied “Hey”. “And finally, the pride of my miserable life, ‘Januus’”. Ben looked around and then at Ahsoka for some clarification before turning to his host and inquiring, “Where”? Dutch gave a large toothy grin and stretched both arms all the way out. “My ship, Januus”. Ben smiled slightly embarrassed and excused himself, “Sorry, I thought you were referring to a person”. He admitted. Dutch took a seat next to Ben and put his arms over his head, clasping his fingers together. He let out a little sigh. “No, she’s better than a person”, He indicated. “She’s been with me through good and bad more times than any human woman would tolerate”. He finished. Ahsoka was tired of holding her ankles and lowered her feet to the floor and relaxed. Ben enjoyed the comfort of his oversized, plush chair and leaned back and closed his eyes. “Think I’ll rest a little while we wait”. Skudd gathered some drink pouches and returned to his station up front. The freighter was long and narrow from stem to stern with engine compartments attached to the outside of her hull like four growths protruding on each side, both front and back. The large portal giving the pilot his vantage point on the front end and a turret in the rear, complete with repulser canon. It looked sort of animal like with wires and tubing for an outer layer of fur. She was odd looking in comparison to the starships Ben and Ahsoka were familiar with but obviously held its own in among the pirate guild.  
Ahsoka had waited long enough since escaping the destroyer and was curious to find out more info from her former compatriot. “So, how did you end up finding us back there before the destroyer and all the troopers showed”? Dutch leaned forward in his chair like he was about to divulge a secret. “Out here among the shipping lanes and hyper-jump points, its long been known by entrepreneurs such as myself, that if someone intends to hijack a ship or bust in on some party, you always send a non-descript distress call on a common frequency in search of any Imperial ships in the area. If there aren’t any in the immediate area you’re free and clear to go for it. However if someone is close by and responds, you know to hang back and wait till they leave before proceeding to conduct business”. Dutch explained in detail. “But, should you beat the empire to the destination first, you do your best and scoot before they show up and lock everything down, looking for answers all the while giving you plenty of time to get away”. “That is quite ingenious if not nefarious”. Ben added commended the captain. Dutch tilted his head in consideration of Ben’s statement and concluded that it was a compliment as far as he was concerned, and bowed to his newest fan. While Ahsoka shook her head and stated emphatically. “That’s brilliant”! “So you’ve been doing this a while then”? Asked Ben. “Yeah, close to 13 years now”. “So did you also know the ex-pirate named Mott Tilley”? He asked. “Sure everyone knew old Mott”. Ben pushed further. “Did you know of the Jedi and the woman taken captive by his crew”? asked Ben. “Nah, don’t know nuthin bout that, Mott never talked much, except to Knardd”. Ben needed more but feared that he’d reached a dead end. “So no one can confirm the story”. He accepted. “I can”! said the voice from under the floor tiles again. “My pa was best friends and ship mates with ol Mott. My daddy told me that story a zillion times when I was a kid”. “My pa’s name was Dinn’ Jarr Gat”. Ben intently considered the man’s story, then patted the floor tile with his hand and said, “Thank you my subterranean friend”.  
Now that Ben had the information that he’d come half way around the universe to acquire, he realized that it was time to go home to Tatooine and his young charge, Luke. 

 

Vader stormed the bridge of the Inquisitor, barely allowing the main doors enough time to open before pushing his way in. He marched down the long gangway in the center of the huge room until reaching the main view port that peered out over top of the enormous ship. From high above the top deck of the destroyer, the view was magnificent, and Vader languished in the sense of power it inspired. Not everyone however shared his view. The officers and crew seated at various stations all around the sub-deck below the gangway that loomed just above their heads went silent. Each member of the bridge crew looked to the two senior officers caught in mid-conversation when the Sith had arrived unannounced. Lieutenant Cobol had been bragging to his peer, lieutenant Krass in a low tone “He’s not that scary, If I were Admiral of this ship I’d walk right up to him and demand…” But his words were cut short. Then without so much as turning his head to look in their direction, Vader raised the arm at his right side and extended it straight in the officer’s direction. Each man looked at the other in fear until the coward, Lt. Cobol found himself being expeditiously summoned. His limp body suspended above the floor, boots dragging across the deck, to Vader’s side just within his reach. The dark Lord’s gloved right hand found the younger man’s throat. Every man on deck stared wide eyed as the petrified man hung in mid-air, the toes of his shiny boots barely making contact with the floor. He fought to breathe as he spoke in gasps… “First Officer Cobol…at.. your.. ser..vice.”! Was all he could muster, before passing out. Vader had no reaction or gave any attention what so ever. He removed his hand from the neck of his subordinate, turned and walked back across the gangway and exited the bridge while Cobol remained suspended, mere inches above the deck surface until the doors slid closed behind Vader. Instantly the man’s wilted body collapsed to the floor in a disconcerting heap. All stood still for a moment until it was evident that the Sith lord wasn’t returning, before the poor man’s peers ran to his side, finding to their relief that he was indeed still alive, just unconscious. 

Beruu was piling newly laundered shirts on Luke’s bed when he returned from working all day. He lovingly thanked her and gathered his things and began assisting her in putting them away. She stood next to him while he hung the fresh linen in his clothes locker. He was busy at putting his clothes away and didn’t notice that she had stopped and was looking at his profile. She couldn’t help but notice that while growing into a young man, his face gave away his true identity. She could see his mother in his smile and his father in his eyes. She recalled the last time she had seen Padme and Anakin. They were all so young then; her and Owen were dating and had only just started to talk of marriage. She remembered thinking, how in love they both seemed and yet caught in a web that threatened to tear them apart. There’s, was a love, of uncertainty. There seemed to be very little hope for them. She wanted more for her dear Luke. She wanted a life of happiness and contentment for him and the ones he would love. 

The freighter known as Januus lumbered through the tail end of the starship graveyard, overrun with the carcass’ of long forgotten and abandoned freightliners and transports from all over the galaxy. Skudd was in fact a grade-A pilot from these parts, that no one could deny. He brought the nose around and waded through heavy gas clouds before emerging into empty space once again. He navigated free of the dangerous system and plotted for Tatooine.  
Ben and Ahsoka slept peacefully for the first time in weeks while Dutch and his boys repaired some minor damage to the communications dish that they sustained in the asteroid field previously. All appeared to be going smoothly until they felt a light jolt. Followed by another and then… the vessel slammed to a halt causing all aboard to be propelled violently toward the front of the ship. Ahsoka and Ben woke abruptly as they found themselves flung against the wall of the cabin and toppled over each other on the floor. Ben helped Ahsoka up and both headed for the front cockpit to find out what was going on. “Did we hit something; I thought we would be free of the asteroids by now”? Ben asked with a concerned look on his face. “No we made it free of that place hours ago”. Announced Skudd. Then Ahsoka chimed in. “So what was that”? But before anybody could answer, the destroyer came into view off the starboard bow and looked as if it were closing on them fast. “Why are we headed straight for it, Turn around”! Dutch ordered his pilot. “We aren’t headed toward it, we’re caught in a tractor beam”! Skudd shot back in exasperation. Ben contemplated all of the ways that this scenario could play out while Dutch and the pilot fought the controls to no avail. They were quickly running out of options as the destroyer got closer and not a single persona on board wanted to be arrested by the imperial Navy, least of all three pirates wanted for crimes against the empire. But it was the two force wielders who stood to lose the most. Once their identities were discovered, the adventure would be over and no doubt both of them would be turned over to a fate worse than either of them cared to imagine. Ben finally spoke up as they were coming dangerously close to the opening in the bottom of the destroyer. “Captain, allow me a chance at the controls”. Ben insisted. “I have had some experience as a pilot” Ben said modestly. “Seeing how desperate it’s become, you got it”! Shuddered Dutch. Ben flipped all of the controls on and told everyone to strap themselves in. Then he brought the engines on line and pushed them to full speed aiming directly for the destroyer. “Just like old times”. Ben muttered under his breath.  
The small freighter, Januus bucked and shuttered against the powerful beam of high frequency energy directed at them from a semi-circular cup near the opening in the great destroyer above them. Ben punched in coordinates and pushed the ships rear thrusters full open. Tractor beams operate, as Ben well knew from his time during the war, on a principle of polarity. And since the point of the beam was to pull something in, the polarity was fixed and therefore drew objects toward the source. The device was then unprepared for the object being pulled in to suddenly stop pulling away and reverse its direction and push itself in the direction of the beams origin. That is exactly what Ben did, and as expected the beam wasn’t strong enough to hold their ship at bay. The Januus broke free of the beam and shot straight for the underside of the immense ship ahead causing panic in the control room and lower deck that was preparing to receive the tiny ship. Ben knew that they wouldn’t be prepared to receive them as quickly as they were traveling. The sight of the pirate vessel barreling toward them, sent troopers instantly scattering away from the docking bay door. Ben’s timing was nearly perfect allowing the ship and its passengers the perfect chance to veer to the right and out of the beams path. Dutch held his breath as his ship slid within inches of the underbelly of the destroyer. Ben had already programmed the navigation system permitting him to engage the hyper drive as soon as they were clear of the empire grip and the ship disappeared into a single point of light and escaping into hyperspace at precisely the same moment Dutch finally began breathing again.  
Ben had saved them all from capture as well as undetermined punishment at the hands of their enemies. He now relinquished the controls to the captain and pilot for further manipulation. He dismissed himself from the bridge, leaving behind a celebration in his stead. He had no need of jubilation at this moment, he only needed quiet. In contrast to the life Ben had lead when younger; he still hated flying and was now used to the quiet life of a hermit. His mind was accustomed to being alone. But somehow the revelation of his present situation intrigued him. At what point had his personality shifted to that of a recluse, he wondered? He had been unaware of the change until this minute and it confused him. It was only when Ahsoka joined him in back that he let his train of thought go and focus on the things at hand. “So now what Ben? back into hiding”? She asked him with trepidation. “I mean, I know you have stuff to do and all. But I’ve grown accustomed to your snoring”. She uttered while laughing. Ben joined her in a much needed laugh and enjoyed the comradery that he had so missed. “No, my quest is not quite finished”. Ben told her, to her surprise. “I thought you found what you needed”. She confessed. “Unfortunately even though I have the; who and when and how, it’s the why, that still needs answered”. He admitted. Ahsoka wasn’t in any hurry to part ways with her friend but she knew that she couldn’t hang around forever. “At some point he was going to disappear again and then where would she be”? She asked herself. Ben could perceive her thoughts without using the force by now. He was aware of her dilemma and kind of felt responsible. But she was no longer a padiwaan or young student, she was an adult, and had demonstrated that she was a very capable one at that. “As much as I’ve enjoyed your company, I also know that it’s time to go our separate ways once again”. He presented with a look of melancholy. You’ve grown into a fine woman and you’ll be missed”. He admitted. Ahsoka understood his intentions but still needed to discuss something of urgency with her old teacher before departing. “Ben, what happened between you and Anakin, I need to know”. Ben was hesitant but agreed with her, she needed to know of their last encounter. Ben took a long, deep breath and began his sad story. He spoke of Anakin’s disillusionment with the Jedi council and forbidden marriage to Padme’ before pledging himself to the dark side. He gave her the gruesome details of how he had “entered the sacred temple to find my brothers and sisters slaughtered, their bodies strewn about the floor in the very halls that they had often walked together.” Ben told her in total disgust. “But even the sight of my fellow Jedi ripped apart like animals couldn’t have prepared me for the inconceivable revulsion that awaited me deeper within the sanctuary.” He admitted. “Even the battle hardened clone commandos that accompanied me were instantly rendered nauseous and horrified at the scene of… of…” Ben stopped to compose himself and swallow the lump in his throat before going on.  
His breathing wavered and his body shuttered as he recounted the overwhelming evil that still awaited them. “My team of clone soldiers and I navigated our way through the vision and smell of death until we had arrived at the school room”. Again he stopped and tried to hold back the tears that began to well up in his weary eyes. It cut him to his heart as he told her what he’d seen. “The children..” his voice gave out and disappeared. After a few moments, Ahsoka placed her hand on his trembling shoulder to offer some kind of comfort and support to the fragile man. Ben managed to speak again, but Ahsoka suddenly wished he hadn’t. She had never seen Obi Wan so emotional. He went on to describe how “he was the first to enter the learning center, finding the dismembered and disemboweled bodies of burnt infants and toddlers, some with limbs ripped from their torsos and scattered all over the blood soaked marble floor. Ahsoka felt her stomach churn and felt the contents of her belly shoot up and rapidly pour from her mouth in a visceral response. She dropped to her hands and knees, choking and coughing as she emptied the rushing torrent from her throat. The vomit subsided and she spit, to clear her dripping mouth. Ben chose to wait for a few minutes, to allow her to pull herself together. He considered ending their conversation but she wouldn’t allow it. She was determined to understand, no matter the cost. Ben, then explained of his stowing away on Padme’s ship when she went to talk sense into Anakin only to have his accusations prove true and Anakin’s plan to rule the galaxy come from his own lips. How she tearfully pleaded with him… “Anakin, you’re heading down a path that I can’t follow”. And how Anakin force choked her in his anger, while accusing Obi Wan of turning her against him!. He then described the final battle between them and how he finally accepted his responsibility and had executed judgement on his best friend. Ben stopped a moment, then went on describing how when Anakin attempted to propel himself across the molten divide, he stood on the high ground and dispatched his friend, amputating his arms and legs. “My friend and brother, lying on the scorched ground, looking up at me and shouting in anger and agony “I hate you!” before being consumed by the flames, and the smell of his flesh as he screamed out. Ahsoka’s blood froze as she felt an icy chill take hold of her, and the hair on her neck stood on end while she listened in shock. After explaining the ordeal, he told her of how Anakin had made the statement “you are either with me or against me” which confirmed without a doubt that he was dealing in absolutes as Ahsoka spoke to add. “Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” She mumbled in a cold and lifeless voice. Both went silent and Ben sat with his eyes looking at the floor repeating the words “You were the chosen one” to himself. He then rose from his chair and walked toward the front of the ship and its captain. Ahsoka knew in her heart that Ben did what had to be done, but it still tore at her heart to hear the words. Her eyes slowly began to tear up, before she wiped her face to hide her vulnerability. “I’ve seen him, you know”? She called after Ben. Ben didn’t understand her meaning as he turned back. “You saw who, Ahsoka”? Ben asked her to clarify. “Anakin, or, what used to be”. She explained. Ben’s eyes narrowed in an expression of confusion. “What do you mean, you..saw..him, I left Anakin crippled and dying on Mustafar”? He told her. Suddenly Ahsoka’s voice took on a grave tone. “When I went with Kanan and Ezra to an old Jedi temple that we came across nearly a year ago. We were pursued by the emperor’s inquisitors to a small planet where we found a temple. Inside we fought the two Jedi hunters and got the upper hand until.. until Vader arrived”. She continued. Once again Ben was in the dark. “Who is Vader”? Ben wanted to know. “Vader, Darth Vader… Sith lord and enforcer to the emperor… She looked Ben in the eyes and stated “Vader is Anakin”. She stopped and let Ben’s mind digest the evidence. His eyes shown with disbelief as he began to comprehend the words that had come out of mouth. Bens voice trembled as he asked in earnest , “How do you know, how can you be so sure”? “I saw his face” Ahsoka said in a grim tone. “I didn’t want to believe it either” she told him “But then I saw Anakin’s eyes” she finished. Ben felt his heart breaking all over again.  
It felt to Ben like that terrible day’s events were unfolding just as they had before. “How, how could he have survived”? Ben wondered out loud. He searched his feelings in an attempt to disprove her account but was instantly aware that everything she had just told him was true. A rush of thoughts and feelings and memories began flooding his mind until he couldn’t stand it anymore. Years of self-doubt and pain consumed him as he fought to remain in control, but his chin quivered and tears quickly filled his eyes and ran down both cheeks and into his grey beard. Ahsoka figured now was a good time to split, before she made it any worse. “She was finished with sentiment”. She tried to convince herself. “I hate tears”. She muttered and gathered her simple belongings. “Where are we”? She asked from just outside the cockpit. Skudd checked the charts and counted hyperpoints just before hollering “Tramadol system” over his shoulder. Ahsoka had been there before, it wasn’t much but it would do, she decided and slapped the pilot on the shoulder from behind. “How about dropping me off near the closest station”? She asked without waiting around for an answer. The pilot took control of the computer once again and pulled back on the three levers to his right which caused the ship to slow. Choosing when and where to come out of hyperspace was a giant guess at best. A single blink of an eye’s difference could mean as much as one hundred thousand miles distance. So it was with anticipation that he counted down and pulled out back all the way as they returned to normal space. He checked the navi-computer and cross-referenced it with his star charts a minute before yelling “Planet Collderone”. To anyone listening in back. Ahsoka let out a singular “Good enuf”. and turned to her longtime friend whose countenance had collapsed in silence before walking away toward the back hatch to be alone. The captain handed her a small plastisteel box. She looked at him inquisitively. “Just something from an old fiend” Was all he said and backed away. It was Bens turn to say his goodbyes and as usual he did so with heart. He simply hugged her and wished her “May the force be with you, always”. For Ahsoka this was bitter sweet. She loved her independence and freedom but she would miss his company and all the fond memories that he carried with him. She tried to say something but the words simply got stuck in her throat as she saw the pain in his eyes. She unceremoniously turned and exited the ship. The air that swept into the ship from the open hatch was salty. Seventy percent of Collderone’s surface was covered in water. But the depth of the liquid ranged from the usual one to two feet, to nearly thirty feet in some areas beyond the crystal blue waters. Within sight from the ship that sat motionless in the clear mineral waters, Ahsoka waded toward one of the fishing villages nearby. She didn’t turn or look back, she went forward and faded from view. The captain left Ben standing at the ships entrance alone. Ben tapped the switch next to his head and watched as the ramp retracted and the door sealed shut.  
Within a matter of minutes the powerful engines came to life as the pilot did his last minute systems check and pulled the control wheel back and closer to his chest. The brash uproar of creaking and the agonizing strain of metal framework filled the ship like the sounds of a lumbering beast trying to rise awake from a deep sleep. With all its might it rose up from its cradle, shedding the planets watery grip. The Januus steadily ascended into the upper atmosphere and then back into the emptiness of space. Murkyl was busy at his work down below and out of sight. The pilot was focused on his charts and warning lights and Dutch spent his time leafing through his data pad looking for any mention of a new prospect for salvage work, for him and his men. Fun time was over and they needed to find work and fast. The credits were running low, especially since Dutch had given most of what he had to Ahsoka as seed money for her new life, before she left. Ben’s funds were nearly tapped out as well and he still had quite a distance to travel before going home. The captain came across a few possibilities in the business section of the digi-trader. Throughout the galaxy, pirates and thieves watched and kept track of transports and freightliners carrying wealthy passengers and goods that could be plucked, given the right circumstances and timing. Of course the illicit knowledge was encrypted and hidden in among the advertisements of legitimate company’s. If the information couldn’t be of benefit to that individual or group, the info would be posted in the widely distributed trading board that was updated weekly. Any information that was of no use to that party was offered to others who might be able to use it to their advantage. And per pirate protocol, a small percentage from the overall take would be shared with the original informant. It was a good arrangement that kept everyone busy and left no opportunities wasted.  
Dutch conferred with his crew and the unanimously decided to make a trip to the inner core and a lead to a particularly profitable job that just might meet their needs. Dutch gave Ben the news and asked if he was interested in tagging along before heading off on his own. The old Jedi master was sullen and quiet. He spoke softly. “What do you know of this man known as Vader”? Ben asked his friend. Dutch sat next to Ben on the pullout bench. Dutch’s face turned serious and his voice took on a grave tone. “Ive never laid eyes on him myself, but from the stories Ive heard, he’s someone you don’t ever want to meet face to face. His own officers and soldiers are terrified of him. He’s killed thousands from one end of the galaxy to the other, returning in many cases, victorious but the only to have survived”. Dutch moved in closer and stared Ben straight in the eye. “They say he can’t be killed”. “They say, he’s pure evil”! The two men faced one another, locked in solemn discussion as Dutch proceeded. “I know you can’t believe everything you hear, especially when it’s passed around, things get exaggerated”. “But this is not one of those times”. Ben didn’t want to hear anymore, he simply told the captain. “Take me as far as the inner rim and I’ll take my leave”. Dutch looked up at him with concern before adding, “You don’t plan on doing anything foolish do you”? Ben didn’t answer he just stated “I would like to thank you for all you’ve done”. Dutch sorta grinned and nodded before returning to his work. The ship was buzzing with activity while Ben rested his weary mind.  
The Januus and its occupants traversed several star systems until reaching the tip of the inner core of planets that made up the center of the galaxy. They passed Muunilist, original home world of the Muun race who made up the Intergalactic Banking Union. Once out of the light green planets shadow, they reached the planet of Mygeeto, home to the oldest and wealthiest of banking families, the House of Damask. It was here that Obi Wan sought answers. He would have to clear his mind and calm his emotions for now and seek out the records to end this mystery once and for all. To answer the question that ripped at Bens gut. “Who was the Muun who had kidnapped the child and why”? He reminded himself. 

Chapter 8

First there was darkness, then the darkness gave way to the light and a brilliant white filled his vision. It started bright but opaque, then his eyes began to adjust, slowly, and his vision cleared as the light and shadow took on form until his surroundings came into an obscure focus followed by sound. It increased in volume with a low rumble as if he were under water. Millions of neurons fired within his grey matter and his mind snapped back and began interpreting what his optic nerves were transmitting, Vader hung, doll-like within the clear chamber of bacta-solution, innumerable hoses and wires injected into his flesh and bone torso that had become his sole possession. It occurred to him… “If I only had legs… I could kick my way out” and “If I had arms… I could reach out”… And if I had fists… I could beat them against this plasi-chrome prison”… “But he had no arms or legs or fists. He hovered, floating in a limbo, cursed and pitiful” he imagined. Like a fetus he writhed in the amniotic fluid of his mechanical womb, warm and safe and vulnerable. At first his consciousness raced toward claustrophobia followed by paranoia and extreme anxiety in answer to the situation he found himself. It took time for his mind to grasp the reality he was now faced with since the time of his devastation at the hands of his onetime teacher and friend. The very thought of the word ‘friend’ caused him to wince and react as if his wounds were still fresh and had just been imposed upon him. His soul cried out for justice but his dismembered trunk hung, useless.  
He allowed his thoughts to drift and reassemble themselves in and out of order, creating a collage of memories both good and bad. This was the only way to free himself from all hopelessness. His life had been an endless succession of operations and alterations and countless hardware fittings for nearly 17 years. One might imagine him becoming accustomed to his situation and procedures after so many years but for Vader, each day was like reliving the initial trauma all over again. Each time he relinquished his suit of armor and life sustaining mechanism to enter the bacta-tank he suffered humiliation and pain. “There was no getting used to this ordeal”. He reminded himself. Only his boiling hatred and anger had sustained him through the insanity, only the thought of countless scenarios of revenge kept his heart beating. As his thoughts returned to the day on Mustafar when he was defeated by Obi Wan’s treachery and betrayal, it wasn’t the flames that engulfed his mortal coil that had hurt the most. It was the sight of Obi Wan walking away, abandoning him; that had destroyed his humanity. As his mind conjured up the hatred that he felt growing within, it was the manifestation of his dark powers that threatened anything outside of the large fluid filled tank. His head and body began to shake uncontrollably inside, while outside of his recovery chamber, that had been brought onto the ship from his castle, bore the brunt of the devastation. The clear cylinder that contained him suddenly cracked as the permi-crete base split and crumbled. Fluid sprayed from the growing cracks and warning lights blinked rapidly as a low roar began sounding, alerting emergency operators to the imminent danger, should the fluid and electrical lines meet. Engineers and soldiers alike rushed to the door of Vader’s apartment only to find it sealed from within. Frantically they worked to open the door and rescue the Sith lord. When finally, it began to move, they doubled their efforts as a dozen Stormtroopers struggled to pry it open. The task began to appear impossible, but just then the panel started to slide. All at once the door flung open, sending stormtroopers flying backwards and assembling in a heap to one side of the archway. From the darkness inside, the two engineers and one trooper who had managed to pull himself from the floor, stood in fear as they looked into the emptiness and heard…” swhooo, kerrr, swhooo, kerrr” growing louder and louder as if it were coming for them. The lone trooper instinctively threw himself to one side of the door and took cover behind a protruding bulkhead while one of the engineers darted toward the opposite side of the hallway, leaving only one man to meet the evil all alone. Materializing just in front of his pale face, was an ebony, square box containing three thin slots, on his left. Two small illuminated buttons to the right, one blue, the other red. Followed by a row of four switches just underneath. The sole man lost consciousness and simply collapsed where he had stood.  
The half-dozen fallen Stormtroopers tried to pull themselves together and salute, like marionettes clumsily suspended by strings as the imposing figure of the dark knight approached. “See to my quarters immediately” came the deep baritone thunder of Vader’s voice. “I want it repaired before I return.” And with that he marched off at a very deliberate pace while they attended to the poor man on the floor. During the minutes that followed, lowly foot soldiers as well as officers brandishing rows of commendation ribbons across their lapels, hugged the walls as the black juggernaut known as Vader passed them in the hallway. Every man aboard had been exposed to the tale of men who got in his way, even by accident. Whether it was just idle gossip or truth, none were inclined to test him. Vader reached the communications room and walked directly toward a large, raised, circular platform in the center of the room. Once stepping onto the disk it lit up, giving off a bluish hue, as he submissively knelt down on his right knee and bowed his head. Everyone present rushed for the outer hallway and exited the room, leaving the dark lord by himself. With his head aimed low, a similar blue light appeared on the floor just in front of him. Followed by the spine-chilling voice of his master. “Rise, lord Vader and report”. Vader raised only his eyes to look upon the gargantuan hologram of Darth Sidious standing before him and responded “I have felt a great disturbance in the force, my master”. The transparent figure in front of him spoke in kind “Yes, I have felt it as well my friend, do you know of its origin”? The emperor asked. His dark apprentice simply answered “No, master”. Sidious considered his options before commanding his student to “seek out the rebel scum who had just stolen the plans to his latest and greatest endeavor, and recover them at all cost”. Vader lowered his helmeted dome once again and simply answered “Yes, my master, it will be done”. 

As the Januus descended through the planet’s atmosphere, all inside her finished packing and rehearsing their stories, in order to avoid any slip-ups that could land them in the custody of the local law enforcement agents. Ben however stayed to himself while counting the credits he had left. He felt the familiar bump caused by the ship touching down onto Mygeeto’s surface, stood and walked to the hatch. He stopped to look back a second and thanked Dutch for his help again. Dutch approached the old Jedi and shook Ben’s hand one last time. Neither offered a word as Ben walked away. Dutch watched his old friend make his way through the gates at the end of the landing platform and descend the ramp and out of sight. He knew anything was possible, but something in his gut told him that he’d never see the old Jedi again.  
The streets that linked the spaceport to the main hub within the city of Mellak, were congested with transports of all kinds. There was an adjacent walkway for pedestrians, but it too was almost impassable. It looked like Ben might have to wait a while for the traffic to die down and space on either side of the roadway to open up, before he could find his way into the city and lodging for the night. But after only a few minutes of resting against the food dispenser, beside him on the sidewalk, a taxi drove up behind him. The window port closest to him slipped away and the driver stuck his broad, shiny green head out through the opening and offered Ben a “ride to anywhere you wanna go”. This wasn’t the first time Ben had been in a big city, not to mention this particular city before and he knew not to accept unsolicited rides from strangers, posing as friendly chaps about town. He asked the driver “how much for transportation uptown?” curious as to the beings response. “How far up-town are we talking”? He inquired cautiously. “The federal library” answered Ben with a slight grin. The cabby thought a second before tossing out the number “thirty five” to Ben. Ben considered his proposition and then countered with “fifteen”. The cabby exploded in disbelief “Are you mad”? He asked Ben with an air of exasperation in his voice. Ben knew full well that any price the driver offered would definitely be doubled for anyone not local and aware. “No, fifteen” He repeated and stood his ground firmly. It occurred to Ben that he could have used his force influence on the creature, but thought it better not to reveal his secret talents if it wasn’t necessary. The taxi driver just stared at him a few seconds before a smile flashed across his wide reptilian face and his long blue tongue extended in Bens direction and waited for payment up front. Ben tossed three small red credit chips onto the clever cabbies tongue as it coiled itself up and returned quickly beyond his lips. “Hop in”. He told Ben with a chuckle in his voice. Ben bent down and entered the backseat of the small yellow transport and pulled the door shut behind him as he smiled and said in return “hop indeed”.  
The shiny exterior of the taxi stood in stark contrast to the shabby interior Ben found himself surrounded by. The driver looked into his rear mirror at ben. “So, how’d you like my cab”? He asked ben. “Its brand new, you are the very first fare I’ve had since I got it this morning”. He told the Jedi. Ben figured that he was lying and that he had probably just stolen the taxi that morning, but he didn’t argue, and instead acted impressed. This delighted the cabs owner as he sped uptown, carelessly dodging and weaving his way between other transports all the way and yelling for them to “Get out of the way”! Ben hung on and tried desperately to ignore the smells he was encountering in the back. Ben was almost starting to get used to the rocking of the cab when it came to a halt, all of a sudden. “Uptown, federal library”. The driver told Ben. Ben shook his head slightly and reached for the release handle and stepped out of the yellow deathtrap. “Thank you my good fellow” Ben extended to the cabby. But before he could even blink, the taxi revved up and sped away out of sight. The old man swung around and climbed the flight of steel-creet steps leading up to the ornately carved front entrance. He entered the old building, remembering the first time he had been assigned to investigate someone for the Jedi council. And how this library had aided him in discovering the whereabouts of an old acquaintance of his, who had disappeared without a word for several weeks. He was aware of the nature of this institution and how information of every kind filtered through these walls and ended up tucked away for safe keeping. The intergalactic Banking association, with its Muun board of directors and financiers, had used the library as a front for years. It was portrayed as a bastion of knowledge, but what it really did, was capture information, and every single transaction in the galaxy, to be used as ammunition for the greedy and opportunistic banking cartel to use at their discretion. Information was power and this was the most powerful organization in the universe. Fortunately for Ben, if one knew where to look, anything could be learned with a carefully constructed sifting algorithm.  
And, it just so happened, Ben was in position of just such an algorithm. The small box that he had extracted from the outdated and abandoned old server on cloud city contained the equations he had previously used in his younger days to crack the codes and enter into the libraries data banks. With the black box he could unlock any information on just about any subject. And that included receipts and cargo manifests from as far back as the building had been constructed. He slowly made his way around the fantastic, large room, with its vaulted ceilings and inner courtyard. He kept close to the smooth, polished stone walls to avoid the security cameras that hung like gargoyles from every pillar. The building had originally been constructed by the government to house cultural antiquities, kind of a national museum. But it was eventually taken over by the banking association due to its central location and treasury like design. It resembled a sort of temple, as was compatible with the worship of wealth that this place represented. Among Muun culture, religion, commerce and government were interchangeable as one in the same. And charity was akin to heresy. This shrine to money came complete with wall carvings, tall doorways befitting its owner’s height and a succession of balconies surrounding each of its 22 tiers. The two upper floors of the massive structure held the main offices and according to Muun custom, was off limits to any non-Muun. To his knowledge, no one but the Muun had ever entered those doors. And so it went within the delicate balance of the Muun cast system.  
Ben was in a bit of a hurry but didn’t want to appear so. He avoided making eye contact with any of the hundreds of busy creatures milling about. He finally reached an empty terminal near the back of the room, opposite the teller’s window. The bank teller seemed disinterested with his presence so he plugged into the terminal and cross-referenced the date of Qui Gon and Tahls child being born with the sale of any large shipments to the outer rim from somewhere in the vicinity of Coruscant. After several minutes and enough perspiration to dampen his under tunic, the dates came up and with them a sizable list of ships logs and receipts. But this was no place to sit and read if he wanted to leave unnoticed and without being discovered. Even though his box of tricks was good, it wasn’t able however, able to retrieve the data without setting off the main computers failsafe’s and red flagging the intrusion. Anyone using external software to link into the mainframe was detectable after a few minutes. And a warning would begin flashing on every senior terminal in the upper offices to alert someone that valuable information was being gathered and extracted without proper authorization. So Ben unplugged his device and hid from sight in a tiny room full of office supplies in the rear of the structure. As the footsteps of security workers passed by, scouring the building for unauthorized personel. He smashed the box into tiny pieces, lifted a lid from one of the boxes next to him and dumped the scraps inside. Then he slipped unnoticed out through a side door and into the busy city streets. He mixed in with the foot traffic that hustled in every direction among the cities innumerable sidewalks. A person could get lost on this world very easily, and often did. The city of Mellak was infamous for its violence and petty crime rate, not to mention the growing hallucinogen trade. The wealthy were immune to such things since they occupied the upper levels of society and weren’t required to mix with the common population. The streets below however were a totally different story. An average lower-class citizen stood a good chance of remaining safe and intact during the day, uptown. The night was another story. As usual the darkness brought out the predators and no one alone or in a group was secure. Ben glanced up at the giant ‘chrono’ that flashed across the outside wall of one of the skyscrapers, looming overhead and took notice of the time. It said “Seven O’clock” in bold basic lettering, accompanied by numeral characters next to it as well for those unable to read.  
It was immediately apparent to Ben, who were the locals and who were tourists in this congested megalopolis. Only the naïve visitors continued shopping, unaware of what seven O’clock meant. The local inhabitants however, began to systematically disappear. In no time at all, Ben found himself as one of about only half a dozen pedestrians left on the street as the sunlight slowly faded. Elsewhere on the outer suburban areas of the city, the streets were brightly lit and full of people. But within the financial district of uptown, light as well as life were scarce at night. Ben had only wandered for a few blocks when he saw a group of thugs harassing a young couple. He couldn’t hear their conversation but he knew the drill all too well. Just as he expected, one of the toughs struck the male as the female cried out for help. None of them seemed to notice as Ben approached them, until he spoke. “Good evening, may I be of assistance”? Ben asked in a polite and unassuming voice. The young male lying on the ground started to rise until his oppressor struck him again, knocking him to the ground for a second time. Now his five companions looked at Ben, while one still held the female, who was struggling to get free. The closest of the toughs stepped up to Ben and put a small vibro-blade in front of his face in a gesture meant to intimidate and spoke in his guttural tone. “You made a big mistake old man, now walk away before I snuff you”! He bellowed. At the same time, another of the thugs laughed and told his friends “Senile old man doesn’t realize he’s outnumbered”. As his friends joined him in laughter. The entire situation only lasted no more than a few seconds, before Ben replied to their surprise. “I’d say the odds where quite in my favor”. He announced. As soon as his words registered in the minds of the predators, the young couple became unimportant and the group of men advanced toward Ben. They of course, were unaware of the old man’s ally. And “what a powerful ally it was”. For in an instant, Ben ignited his saber and tore through his opponents as if they were standing still and their bodies disassembled all around him. He stood untouched and still, his face illuminated in the blue light of his weapon, unmovable. The couple was running away by that time, as the Jedi extinguished his fiery blade and lazily walked off to find refuge from the night and something to satiate his empty stomach. 

Meanwhile on course to Qatarus 4 Space Station, The lumbering, dura-steel behemoth, Inquisitor, barreled through space carrying Vader closer to his destiny. Admiral Thrawn had tempted fate one too many times already, he reckoned, and chose to quit while he was still alive. He returned to the mundane responsibility of commanding the ship and its enormous crew. He didn’t seek out Vader or try to attract his attention again. Vader on the other hand was busy making plans and arrangements, and issuing orders to Qatarus 4 concerning his impending arrival. He paid no mind to any of the thousands of troops on board as he darted from one end of the destroyer to another. On reaching the multi-level space station, Vader brusquely took his seat on his small grey shuttle and gave the order to lift off. Thrawn watched from the bridge as the shuttle transported him and his two crimson guardians to a much larger destroyer, docked on the opposite side of the station. Again, Thrawn caught site of his awkward reflection in the portal and said without reservation “Good rid dens”.  
Hanging unfettered and parallel to the station was the mega-star destroyer” Devastator”, Vader’s personal ship and the flagship of the entire imperial fleet, given to him personally by the emperor as a gift. Vader exited his shuttle and went straight for the control room. He commanded that the destroyer “prepare to depart immediately, bound for the planet of Geonosis” in the deep rumble of his verbal expression. The crew flawlessly went into action and in less time than it took him to reach the bridge. The destroyer was pulling away from the docking bay at the highest level of Qatarus and took position in anticipation of the Sith lord’s order to blast off into hyperspace, which came as soon as he entered the bridge, followed by his guards and three officers who struggled to keep up. Seconds later the massive ship lurched forward and disappeared in the blink of any eye. 

Elsewhere in the galaxy a similar vessel devoted to the imperial navy “Executrix”, under the command of one of the emperors most trusted and accomplished senior officers, Gran Moff Tarkin, was speeding as well, to rendezvous with the Devastator. It was to Admiral Tarkin alone, that Thrawn would ever concede superiority and with good reason. Tarkin had been his instructor and personal mentor since the beginning of his rise in rank. It was Tarkin himself, who had advocated Thrawns promotion to Admiral following the battle of Jaku, a few years back. But Admiral Tarkin was no longer responsible for his old student, for he had orders of his own. He had been personally instructed by the emperor himself, to meet with Vader and to oversee the construction of his dark majesty’s newest weapon. Among the two crews operating the two destroyers, only Vader and Tarkin were privy to the location and nature of their destination at hand. And so it would remain until such time as it was deemed necessary for them to learn for themselves. “Secrecy was tantamount to victory, and victory would come” Tarkin had told the emperor on their last meeting. Tarkin was polished and professional as befitted his prior station as member of one of the oldest and wealthiest non-Muun families in the inner core of planets. His family was responsible for the terraforming of hundreds of worlds, making them suitable for inhabitation and exploitation as well. It was due in part to his exploits as a savvy entrepreneur, while in civilian life that had attracted the notice of Chancellor Palpatine, long before the separatist uprising and the war that had soon followed. It wasn’t until the chancellor had been hurt and disfigured, during an attack on his life by one of the master Jedi, that he had been called into service by the newly appointed Supreme Chancellor. Much to everyone’s surprise, Tarkin abandoned the family business and accepted his post as Grand Admiral of the imperial fleet at the Palpatine’s request. It was also Tarkin, who had stood by the Supreme Chancellors side, opposite Vader, during his coronation as self-proclaimed, Emperor! That alone entitled him to be entrusted with the emperors secret plans for galactic domination and placed him third in the line of galactic power, just behind the Sith lord, Vader. The only secret that the admiral was not party too, was the nature of Vader’s part in all of this. It was to Vader alone that the emperor confided his deepest thoughts. He assumed that their relationship had much to do with the religion that the two shared, which had excluded him from their relationship as master and apprentice. But he couldn’t be totally sure concerning matters of the Force, since he was not force sensitive himself and so he remained, relegated to a rank rather than a position at the emperors side. This left no doubt as to the order of succession, should his majesty become ill or die. Admiral Tarkin knew that even though he held the Emperors ear, it was Vader that held his heart. 

Ben was beginning to feel fatigued while walking, in search of any available room in which he could rest. Finally after several blocks and just as many rejections, he stumbled upon well-lit atrium and the sounds of what seemed to be some kind of celebration, just inside. The double doors to the establishment swung wide releasing several attendees, who looked inebriated and fell onto the sidewalk at his feet. None of the patrons seemed to mind at all and just continued laughing foolishly. Until one twilek female, fashionably dressed and obviously a wealthy socialite, stumbled forward and slipped on the pavement in front of Ben. Instinctively he caught her and returned her upright, much to the females delight. “Well…looks like I found me a real live… gentleman”. She slurred and gave him a sleepy eyed smile. Ben noted that she was attractive for an older twilek woman, but decided it prudent to keep that to himself, so as not to introduce any romantic ideas to the lady’s mind. But he hadn’t counted on the others noticing him standing a few feet outside the door, holding a rather tipsy female who it turned out was very well connected and adored by all in attendance. Faster than Ben could stabilize his new friend on her wobbly legs, a mob of well-dressed party goers took hold of him and pulled him and the female back inside the banquet hall.  
Ben felt quite underdressed and ill prepared for a party but his hosts were most insistent on his presence. He took advantage of the parade of delicacies, lavishly displayed on long narrow tables around the perimeter of the room. He thought it best to remain sober among his unknown acquaintances and relegated himself to only liquids that he was familiar with, and in moderation. Of course that didn’t deter his new friends from shoving glass after bottle of spirited libations into his empty hand. As fast as they handed him a drink, he would reach behind his back and empty its contents into a large potted fern that stood at his rear. But, as if realizing his deception, he was swept away again into the middle of the dance floor and plied with more drinks. Without his organic accomplice to absorb the alcohol, Ben had to resort to administering his Jedi mind persuasion in order to dodge the unwanted refreshments. After about an hour of avoiding intoxication, as well as prying questions from several fellow guests, he slipped out of the main ballroom and into an unoccupied adjoining room to collect his thoughts. The room was dark except for the light that bled through, between the large, thick curtains covering his exit. He suddenly was made aware of someone or something closing in from behind him. He raised his right hand as he pivoted to his right, being met with a small, delicate hand, wrapping slender fingers, gently around his wrist. He knew instantly that no harm was meant and that it was most assuredly the friendly twilek woman from the street. As reserved as he had been she was not. She pressed herself against him and placed a soft kiss on his lips. She then took a step back and said “thank you for your kindness”. Before drifting off into the darkness and out of his sight. Ben stood motionless for a few moments, considering his whereabouts before choosing to go after her. He followed her egress until catching up with her as she stepped, alone into a lift.  
He joined her before the doors could close, much to her surprise. They looked at each other, each one trying to interpret the others intentions until Ben spoke. “I mean no harm, dear lady. I seem to have found myself in need of assistance and thought perhaps you could lend me aid”. The magnificently adorned socialite smiled and extended her lovely long fingers and touched his chest. “I would be delighted to have you join me in my suite tonight”. She generously offered. Ben was a bit nervous until he became aware of “a most pleasant scent in the air that seemed to emanate from his companion”, he thought before complimenting her. She blushed for a second and stood looking at the control pad in front of her. He accompanied her to the top floor and her penthouse suite. When the double doors opened, revealing the decadently furnished, palatial apartment, he stepped forward and succumbed to astonishment. “How diametrically opposed this world and its people were, two classes, one rich and the other desolately poor”. The man considered as the woman faced Ben and spoke. “Im Failla, personal assistant to Urleesia Damask, heir to the House of Damask”. “and your name”? She implored wistfully. Ben steadied his nerves and introduced himself, simply as “Ben, pleased to make your acquaintance”. She gave him a queer little smile and introduced… “This is Tramus”. To which Ben spun around and encountered an extremely tall metaloy white droid, beta series and extremely expensive. Ben simply nodded and turned back to Failla who by now had walked to the lounge. He observed as she stopped and sat down with of all the regal deportment of her nearly royal station. “And where do you come from … Ben”? she asked. “Im just a traveling merchant, my home is wherever the cosmic winds send me”. He told her. “How fortunate that the universe chose my humble abode for you tonight”. She giggled innocently. Ben found her charming and sat with her and talked for quite a while about a number of different subjects, from literature to philosophy and even some history before she decided to finally ask him “Will you be in the vicinity long”? He considered her dreamily poised eyes before explaining shortly “I have only a few days until it will be necessary for me to return to my business. “How sad, I enjoy your company”. She said and rose. In a mannerly fashion, Ben rose as well in a gesture of respect. She checked the time on her chrono- bracelet and realized the time. “Oh, it’s very late and I have obligations early tomorrow morning”. She conveyed, and then spoke again. “You are most welcome to the guest room for the night if you wish” as she pointed to a closed door across from her and Ben. Ben bowed and thanked her for her hospitality before turning and retreating to his room and passed by the spotless, snow-white guardian standing vigil. As he went to the bed and sat down, he heard the door lock. He imagined that the apartment’s owner might require some show of good faith in order to permit him sanctuary. Ben wasn’t able to sleep for more than a few minutes here and there and was relieved when morning arrived. Ben rose and dressed before walking out into the main sitting room, only to find himself alone, with the one eyed Tramus standing watch. He poured himself a glass of sparkling water from a fancy bottle nestled in a bucket of ice on the bar and took a seat on the luxurious and cushion covered lounge that held him and his host the night before. He laid his digi-pad on the small round table in front of him and began sorting through the data that he collected from the Muun library. It was slow going at first but soon he was wading his way through receipts and ships manifests from the exact six month time period that surrounded his search parameters. To his consternation, the name “Damask Corp.” kept showing up. “What does a banking corporation have to do with kidnapping and human trafficking”? Ben wondered to himself as he continued digging deeper. He eventually hit a wall of digital security blocks and could proceed no further. After pulling his few possessions together, he left the ever watchful cyclops and pressed the button and waited for the lift to return. The tiny doors slid apart and he entered the small enclosure and pressed L for lobby. The tiny car lowered him the full distance down to the main lobby where he exited into a large waiting area full of activity. He made it to the rotating doors leading outside but was stopped by a large, grey Banomeesean, wearing an obviously well-tailored formal jacket and white gloves on his six fingered hands. He raised one of his huge hands which held a small envelope and offered it to Ben, followed by the deep grunting noise, that his kind was known for. He accepted the note and gave a congenial “Thank you… uh”? to which the massive servant replied “Gahlt”. Ben opened and read the note to himself, as the servant retreated back to his station behind the concierge’s desk. “Ben, I was delighted to meet and talk with you last night, please seek me out again, if ever you find your way to these parts again”. “Signed, your friend, Failla”. He considered her invitation and tucked the note into his inner robe pocket as he exited the building. He didn’t travel far, choosing a café just across the street, to have a hot drink and watch for his lady friend to make her return appearance in front of her building. He sat reading the digi-pad and the names and dates, only stopping, every so often to pear out through the picture window that he sat next to. Six cups of Klayon tea and several hours had elapsed and he was becoming a bit impatient, when he saw a long and shiny new transport speedster pull up in front of the other buildings entrance. There was a little commotion and then he saw her. She was assisted from the speedster to the front door and beyond, while Ben paid the waitress and left.

Chapter 9

Luke and his aunt were walking up and down the multitude of rows of outdoor vendors while they talked. Luke was carrying the vegetable’s and food tins that his aunt had bought, as she haggled over the price of some Slither root for poor Owens gout. She was an excellent haggler and loved a bargain, so she seldom paid full asking price for anything in town. The shop owners all knew her name and stubborn reputation, even though she only came to market about two or three times a cycle. Her needs were met and she motioned for Luke to go and get the beat up old speeder ready for the trip home. He stowed their food in the front of the speeder and locked the hatch before jumping in and firing up the servos. A few minutes later, Beruu joined him and they made their way clear of town and sped off for home and dinner. “Aunt Beruu, can I ask you something”? Luke wanted to know. “ Of course you can dear, anytime. Whats on your mind”? She asked. Luke was quiet at first then pursed his lips and asked “What was my mother like”? She wasn’t prepared for this specific topic however and her words stumbled as she tried to compose herself and not seem flustered. “Well… uh, Luke… you know… I mean we’ve …” She stopped a second and tried again. “You know your uncle and I love you very much, and we decided…”. Her train of thought was running out of excuses. She sat next to him as he continued navigating the dunes toward home. “The thing is , your uncle and I decided that when your mother passed away, we would take you in and raise you as our own. We figured someday, when you were old enough… we’d tell you about her and about your father”. She halted to collect her thoughts and decide if she was doing right by him. She and her husband had long since talked about “how the information might affect the impressionable child”. It was Owen who made the final decision, but now her faith wavered and caused her to question the validity of his argument. While he was still a child she remained convinced but now… now, she wasn’t so sure.  
Still, she stuck to their original plan and story. “Your father was born here on Tatooine and lived with your grandmother near Anchorhead. He was very intelligent even from an early age of about ten or eleven. He built a pod-racer out of old junk and even raced it once. As a young man he joined the “Freighters Union 105” and became an accomplished pilot”. “He met your mother on one of his long travels to the inner core and they fell in love. He returned to Tatooine with your mother and then you were born. Unfortunately she didn’t survive the delivery. Your father was devastated and returned to flying while your uncle and I took care of you”. Her face looked down. “Sadly, he too was taken from us too soon. Owen and I had no child of our own. We had …”. Beruu’s voice quivered a bit as she continued speaking. “We had.. a son, but he was still born. So we used the Identification tags that we received for him and assigned them to you, so as not to confuse people about where you had come from. We didn’t want the authorities to take you from us and indoctrinate you for conscription into military service”. The old woman breathed a sigh of relief when Luke didn’t ask for anything more. Luke navigated the dented old speeder closer to their home, while staying silent for the remainder of the trip. The two, reached home and unloaded the groceries and supplies into a small hover cart with a damaged repulse coil. Luke pushed the dilapidated cart into his home, with only three of the four suspender lifts working and the fourth corner dragging on the ground, leaving a gouge mark in the sand as it went along. Berru took over and sent her nephew to find his uncle and invite him in for dinner. Luke walked slowly, searching the sand at his feet as he went forward. He came upon his uncle sitting on a rusted, old resister pack, trying to get the mechanism to free up and turn, like it was supposed to. 

Far from the Larr’s homestead and the quiet country life that came with it, a different sort of drama was beginning to unfold. A newer looking star destroyer with advanced communications and improved tractor beam tech, glided toward the planet of Geonosis. At the helm of the great ship stood Admiral Tarkin, watching and waiting for word to arrive from his coconspirator. He viewed the Sith lord as nothing more than a problem that needed solving. If he could frame some sort of a mishap or failure on the part of Vader, then he could make a reasonable case against him and his leadership, to the emperor. That alone could turn the tide in his favor. Tarkin didn’t have the stomach for politics and deception. But he was willing to implore any means necessary to make advancement at this stage of his career. With his right arm horizontal across his mid-section and his left arm held at the elbow and hand scratching his pointy chin, the voice of his first officer broke the silence. “Sir, lord Vader is requesting confirmation of your rendezvous at Geonosis in six hours”. The officer stood at attention awaiting a reply. Without turning around or looking at the well-groomed young man to his left, he gave the order to “respond and confirm his orders”. His subordinate saluted as he left his side and went back to his comm and assignment. Soon, the young Lt. Major was sending an encrypted message to the star destroyer, Devastator and its enigmatic commander, to inform him of the destroyer Executrix’s plan to meet as previously discussed. The senior communications officer under Vader’s watchful eye deciphered the coded message and relayed the answer to Vader, who stood overhead on the center gangplank. Vader pointed to the main controls at the officer’s fingertips and suddenly the device sent back the acknowledgement code and ceased transmitting, while the younger man backed away from the panel in reservation. 

Ben was trying to decide his next move while crossing the busy street and pushing his way inside the fantastic rotating entrance. Once inside he scanned the lobby for any sign of his newly acquired friend but couldn’t locate her anywhere in sight. He remembered the large doorman that had given him the note and tried to locate him instead. He wasn’t having any luck until he felt a rather imposing tap on the shoulder. He turned his head and to his surprise was looking directly into the beautiful green eyes of Failla once again. She leered at him as the corner of one side of her pouty lips turned upward into an intoxicating smile. “Didn’t think I’d see you so soon again”. She said playfully. Ben’s face took on a ruddy shade. “I thought I would wait and say a proper goodbye”. He told her. She said nothing more and tugged at his sleeve for him to follow her upstairs. He complied without a fight. She amused him with talk of her daily rituals such as shopping and conducting business. But it was the mention of the Federal Library and Muun accountants that caught his immediate interest. “So you have business with the Intergalactic Banking Association, do you”? He asked nonchalantly. “As a matter of fact, ever since my late mistresses passing, the banking association, as you refer to it, has become my second home”. She informed him as the doors opened and he found himself right back where he had started from that morning. And just as before, Tramus stood vigil in the main room, which unnerved Ben a little.  
He left all talk of finances back in the lift and changed the subject to conceal his interest. He asked her about her family and friends as well as her personal favorites within the entertainment genre. They spoke at leisure all through dinner and halfway through a sumptuous desert. At last Ben began to skirt the conversation back around to business with details of his own portfolio. She generously reciprocated until soon, she had related her entire life story concerning the House of Damask and her coming into fortune. “You see, Lady Urleesia and her entire family had been mysteriously murdered”. “Everyone including myself became immediately suspect and was made to endure several hours of intense interrogation as to our whereabouts at the time of their deaths”. Failla showed intense emotion in her eyes as she recounted the following days after the investigation. “In the end, all of the servants and myself had solid alibies proving our innocents. As a result of Munn law and a document written and notarized by Lady Damask and her lawyers the year previous, I was awarded full control of all Damask holdings”. Ben listened intently and at her story until he inquired. “You alone became the executer of the entire estate”? Failla was finishing her last bite of flay cake, eyes inspecting her plate as Tramus removed it from in front of her and simply sounded “Mhmm”. When she had finished taking a sip of her wine, she looked up at a confused looking Ben. “You see, with the entire family dead, there was no one left to inherit the fortune, I was the closest thing to family that Urleesia and her husband had”. She explained. “She was the last in line and had no children to pass it on to”. “So I took over and continue to conduct business in their stead”. Ben was dumbfounded, hearing her extraordinary story. “So fortunately for you, you became a very wealthy and influential non-Muun”. Ben interjected before asking “so you would probably have access to the financial records within the Federal Library as well”? She didn’t bat an eye and said, discreetly, “Yes, I do”.  
She then took notice of his interest and asked him why he wanted to know? Ben hesitated at first before explaining how a friend of his “had become involved in a failed business deal some time ago, but the records of his transaction were sealed and unavailable for his inspection”. To which, his host graciously offered to take him to the library personally, the proceeding morning. He thanked her for her generosity and offered his arm to the lady. She rose and accepted his arm, as they retreated to the lounge area for more sparkling conversation, taking up the remainder of the evening. The hour was getting late and Failla suggested that they turn in for the night in anticipation of the next day’s activities. Ben bid her, ”goodnight” and retired to the guest room. Both enjoyed an uneventful nights rest before waking to the smell of breakfast. They both dressed and met on the terrace overlooking the park with all of its greenery and clear pools of water. They ate rather leisurely before preparing to depart for the financial district, uptown. Ben was wearing a new robe, a gift from his escort. She thought it more fitting considering his association. She as usual wore a gorgeous gown from one of the ultra-exclusive fashion houses around the center of the city. She looked “radiant” as Ben had complimented her at first glance. When they reached the lobby, Gahlt was waiting beside the elegant speedster, holding the door open. Ben assisted Failla before sliding in beside her, as Gahlt closed the door and the lavish transport was off. Traffic, that usually held the population at a standstill, seemed to be no problem. Ben took a look out of the window and realized why. As in every case on this materialistic world, they were rushing along in their very own, private lane. He watched as they zoomed passed everyone else, arriving at their destination relatively quickly. As he had done days earlier, Ben exited his transport directly in front of the Federal Library. Only this time he didn’t have any stairs to climb since they had been delivered right to the front doors, which were being held open for them by armed security agents. Ben lent his lady a hand, stepping out of her speedster she gracefully accompanied him past the guards and inside. Just as they entered the familiar grand hall, a hover-carriage, sat waiting to deliver them to the forbidden main offices above the beings working on the floor.  
“Am I to understand that we are privileged to have access to the Muun only offices”? Ben inquired. In a most apathetic demeanor, Failla simply told him “Of course darling, incredible wealth flouts all convention, boundaries and even century old racial obstructions”. “NRR” She told him, to which he looked at her as she explained. “NO RULES for the RICH”. Ben hadn’t realized just how wealthy she must be until this time. On reaching the upper office lobby, high above the grand hall and unreachable to all others, the pair exited the carriage and were ushered into the inner Muun sanctuary with eager anticipation on behalf of their Muun hosts. They were immediately admitted into a conservatively decorated room with only a desk and a chase lounge visible. Failla instructed the others to leave her and her companion alone and shut the doors behind them. “Alone at last my dear” Failla giggled while draping herself across the noble couch next to him. Ben sat at the desk and tapped his finger on its surface. Nothing happened; he tried it again, still nothing. At that, his friend reached her long, well adorned arm past him and touched the table top with her index finger, which instantly brought it to life, permitting him full access to the libraries secret files.  
Admiral Tarkin observed, as his destroyer pulled within shuttle distance from a inconceivably massive, steelcrete orb, taking shape just outside of the planet Geonosis’ atmosphere, hold steady orbit in space. It was still under final construction protocols but “even unfinished, it was astoundingly impressive to look at” Tarkin kept to himself. A neatly fitted junior officer snapped to attention and saluted the Admiral, followed by the news “that your imperial shuttle is ready to transfer you to the (as of yet, unnamed) space station. Tarkin took his leave of the bridge leaving first officer Traidor in charge while taking the turbo-lift to the lower, docking bay where his personal shuttle sat waiting. Within minutes he was well on his way to the, in-progress space station site and entering one of the more than one hundred gigantic docking bays built into the superstructure. The Admirals shuttle was met with much pomp and circumstance, as befitted such a highly esteemed envoy, sent here by order of the emperor himself. Tarkin didn’t care for showy displays, he valued pragmatism and restraint. But he was accepting of his welcome and conducted himself charmingly.  
Within a few minutes time, Tarkin was feeling antsy and not in the mood for waiting. So he abruptly asked to meet the senior officer in-charge. Responding to the Admiral, a fairly slender, middle aged officer introduced himself as “Captain Kirk sir, at your service”! Tarkin leaned back on his heels and considered the fellow. “Are you sure”? he asked the nervous looking officer. To which the man in question, snapped back with “yes sir, quite sure”. The Admiral turned away and strode toward the turbo-lift ahead and stepped inside, accompanied by four officers including the captain. Just as the doors were slowly closing, Tarkin mumbled to himself “Kirk? What an odd name”. 

Chapter 10

Time was beginning to take its toll on the grizzled man, just as the heat and dry air had parched the skin on his face. Owen wasn’t more than fifty years old, but he looked much older now. He sat in his comfortable chair, swallowing gulps of hot tea and watched as his wife sewed tiny scraps of various materials together. She turned her head to look at her husband. “It’s a blanket, for Luke, when it starts getting chilly in the evenings, come new cycle”. She told him. Owen kept drinking his hot beverage and thought to himself in secret, “I doubt he’ll ever get a chance to use it”. He told himself in premonition of the coming cycle. A few hours later, when the suns had both set for the night, Luke entered the quaint adobe plastered room and joined his uncle next to the small fire. The flames illuminated Luke’s face. “I think you’re right Uncle Owen, about needing some new droids around here. Maybe we can pick up one or two from the Jawa’s next time they pass by here looking to sell”. The boy’s uncle stayed quiet but bobbed his head to the affirmative. “Maybe one that speaks Bachii”? Beruu added.

Ben waded through an endless stream of documents within the huge data-bank for close to an hour without any success. He rubbed his hand against his forehead in desperation, attracting the attention of the woman behind him. “Something wrong”? She wanted to know. “I’m just having difficulty finding the records near the time of a specific occurrence”. He explained in near defeat. His companion slid off of her perch and bent to see the desktop more clearly. She began sliding multiple screens and tabs from one area to another until she said “There”. Ben was taken back at the dexterity and speed she had just displayed and smiled at her in newfound awe. “I told you, I was the assistant to Lady Damask”. Failla reminded him. Ben went back to work until he found exactly what he was looking for, except that the files had been sealed by the enigmatic, patriarch in control of the entire estate, Hego Damask. Both Ben and Failla looked at the red warning ribbon flashing across the screen with growing curiosity. “Hmm..” Failla sounded. She began tapping away again until the red alert disappeared and the files opened before them. “Seems as though someone didn’t want this particular information made available to anyone but himself” Failla postulated. Ben concurred and started sorting the shipping manifests until a copy of a hand written note appeared. It was in Muun and therefore foreign and unreadable to Ben. Lady Damask however was quite familiar with the characters scribbled across the small field of white. She read aloud. “Infant child, both parents Jedi, convergence” followed by a name “Mott Tilley” and then a number “20,000”, just below the number the name “Tahl” was plainly visible but the second name was strange to her and difficult for her to read. Faila’s carefully sculpted nails tapped on the glass as she pondered the notes meaning. Ben of coarse knew immediately what it all meant, however he wasn’t too sure that he should share it with Failla, who might start asking questions. But before he could dismiss the screen, Faila looked at Ben, confused and asked “What would Hego Damask want with a child?”  
Ben swiveled in his high-backed leather chair and asked Failla “What do you know of Hego Damask?” She sat back down on the couch to his left and stared with a puzzled look on her face before beginning. “Of course what I’m about to confess to you must remain between only you and I?” She looked at Ben with all seriousness. “I only know that he was the eldest son of the Damask household and heir to the family fortune and all of its holdings.” “He was not especially favored by his father for some reasons, only he knew.” “ But Hego had left the family for several years to pursue his education. My Lady Damask told me in confidence that when he had returned, he was…” she paused. Then said “different”. Ben questioned her further. “What did she mean by different, in what way?” Faila’s eyes betrayed her feelings of fear. “She said that she felt “uneasy in his presence” and that when he looked at her, it “made the tiny hairs on her neck stand up, sending a cold shiver through her whole body.” Ben instantly remembered hearing that expression once before in connection with the mysterious fellow that had taken the child and given him to Watto, to watch over until his return”. Ben attempted to divert her mind elsewhere as he pressed a button on the viewscreen to “download” the document onto his personal digi-pad, that he had tucked into his inner robe and stated “Well, family can be difficult sometimes.” And then tried to offer a soft chuckle, hoping she’d join him. “I probably shouldn’t tell you this” Failla spoke “but it’s been eating at me for several years and I feel as though I need to confide in someone before I go mad.” Ben consoled her. “It’s alright if you need to talk, I promise to keep what you tell me in the strictest of confidence”. She then smiled warmly and touched her delicate hand to his “I trust you Ben.” Then she told him about the bad fortune that befell the entire family, killing every single member of the household.” Before continuing “The part that bothers me is that, of all seven members, it was only the body of Hego that remains unaccounted for, to this day”. Ben considered what she told him but didn’t add anything. Failla had a faraway look in her eyes as she spoke again “I surely do miss Lady Damask” She admitted with a bit of sorrow in her voice. Ben joined her on the divan and put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her. A short time later she recovered from her grief and told Ben “how happy she was to have a friend such as he, to talk to.” Ben just gave his usual smile and escorted her back to the carriage and then to her personal transport, waiting attentively outside, followed by a short trip back home again.

Vader stood like a gloomy statue waiting for his voyage to conclude and his meeting with Tarkin. Together they would see to the final touches to the emperor’s new battle station. Much to his disdain, he received a communication from Admiral Tarkin informing him of trouble with rebel forces. He wasn’t specific but did impress upon Vader the need for haste. Vader looked to his communication officer and demanded to know how long ago the transmission had been sent. The comms officer relayed to his overseer, “approximately one hour ago”. “Captain!” Vader bellowed “I want this ship to take me first, to Mustafar; then make all of the necessary arrangements to meet Admiral Tarkin aboard the battle station in orbit around the moon of Scarif!!” The destroyer’s navigators and flight crew immediately went into action. All over the massive ship troops hurried to their posts and supplies were being locked away. The main bridge looked like a beehive full of drones crawling all over one another to reach their places, while the destroyer raced through space faster than the speed of light. All the while, the Sith lord communed with the dark side, reaching out to meet his destiny. Once reaching Mustafar, deep within the cavernous castle he called home, he was attended to by his mechanical paige’s and watched over by the red guards, appointed to him by order of the emperor. Inside his home, his one loyal servant prepared his bacta-tank and assisted his master into its healing waters. He hung, lifeless yet fully aware in the clear fluid for several hours. Eventually he was informed that an officer involved in the planning and construction, had requested to speak with him concerning his part in the use and command of the battle station, now known to those who were privileged, as… “the Death Star”.

Ben accompanied Failla back home, where they both said their goodbyes and parted ways for the last time. Failla sent word ahead for Gahlt to call her speedster around front and deliver her close personal friend to the main spaceport, where a first class seat awaited him on one of the large passenger ships leaving the planet. As Ben sat, looking out of the portal next to his luxurious accommodations, he thought of the graceful Twilek girl he left behind and it brought a familiar boyish smile to his aged lips. The large transport, complete with just about every convenience one could think of, streaked beyond the pinkish skies of Mygeeto and disappeared into a point of light. Failla stood on her balcony overlooking the park and caught site of the very transport, she knew was carrying the man. A man that she could have very easily, have fallen in love with. “Goodbye my dear”. She whispered into the soft, gentle breeze. Then she turned and retreated back to her life and the loneliness she had felt before Ben.  
Ben enjoyed his last meal in civilization before pulling his digi-pad from its hiding place and switching it on. He pressed a button on the side of his pad and opened the cover. He scrolled through all of the information he had acquired and thought “of the many lives that had crossed paths with one another.” “He thought of the Jedi woman who gave birth to two children in the dark shadow of another Jedi’s jealousy.” “How he had arranged to sell her second child like so much cargo and it bothered him that Mace Windu had not been tried for his crimes against the Jedi order.” But he reminded himself, “that time has long since passed and wasn’t relevant anymore.” The one thing he couldn’t understand was “why a rich Muun would kill his entire family and fake his own death” as well, “just to buy a human child created by two Jedi?” Not to mention “the poor father, whose name had been completely lost and never had known his own son.” Ben put the data-pad away and resumed eating, perhaps the most delicious piece of teevan spice cake every baked.  
The pleasure cruiser dropped from hyperspace, deviating from its usual course and descended upon Tatooine, much to the other passenger’s surprise. Voices all over the great vessel chattered furiously, asking every crew member “the reason for such a bleak and unpleasant stop such as this?” Many affluent guests even “threatened to notify their friends in parliament of the imposition.” However no one except the ship’s captain understood the “two hundred fifty thousand, reasons, he had been given by a large, well dressed Banomeesean with white gloves, to make the unscheduled visit and to drop off a man, whose identity, even he himself didn’t know.” No one even noticed the small one person craft the slipped from one of the ships lower loading docks and headed for the planet’s surface, as the immense ship came alive and left the barren wastes of this dead planet and resumed it tight schedule. The tiny craft proceeded, hovering just a few feet above the sandy plain and finally set down among the broad, winding dunes. He exited the ship and walked away. In time the dessert storms and ravenous sands would take possession and claim it, never to be seen again. The old Jedi walked for some time before seeing the small, adobe home he had left behind, just ahead on the pink and blue horizon. When he had finally reached his destination, he plopped himself down on the rickety, old chair that he’d built himself years ago and took a deep breath an exhaled. “It felt good to be home and safe once again”, he told himself. He thought of how “the mission he’d pursued had made his dull existence over the past several years seem to come alive again. At times he actually started to enjoy himself and was almost reluctant to return.” But his sense of honor and obligation compelled him back, into the service of the force once again, like the responsible Jedi that he had always tried to be. Ben spent time cleaning up and gathering new supplies round about. He even went back into town and retrieved his little friend, who he still hadn’t given a proper name and simply referred to him as “friend”. He had even managed to stop by the Laars residence to find out from Owen if anything new had gone on during his absence. As he suspected before making the trip, Owen and Beruu assured him “that everything was then, just the same as it always was.” He also inquired of young master Luke, as though it hadn’t been his main concern and just a side thought. His uncle explained with a grin and a bit of chuckling, that he was growing up and displaying all of the qualities, a boy his age was supposed to, including his sudden fascination of the fairer sex. Ben joined him in laughing and was relieved to hear all was well before wishing them well and returning home. With all things considered, he felt a bit of contentment settle in as he lay down for the night. He permitted his mind to wander and pictured Failla as she waved him off. A sudden thought came to mind again as he reached for his digi-pad on the stool next to him. He switched it on again and perused its contents for a while. Various letters and manifests and names sparked his memory to recall the events of his recent travels and the good friends along the way. For a short time he had begun to feel almost young again, flying to exotic locations and engaging in rebellious defiance to the evil empire presently enjoying control of the galaxy. But it had been his short visit to the catacombs beneath the ruins of the old Jedi temple that took him back in time and awakened old wounds. He tried to recall master Yoda’s words, “Dwell not in the past, but to the present take notice. With eyes toward the future, a Jedi lives.”  
Ben smiled as he remembered his old master voice. He gently slid his index finger across the surface of his pad, causing a parade of documents to flash by until one in particular caught his eye. It was the hand written note in the Muun language that he had obtained in secret while in the company of his fellow accomplice and friend, Failla, that once again intrigued the old Jedi, causing him once again to take careful notice of a tiny notation scribbled next to it. He hadn’t remembered seeing it there before. As he separated his thumb and index finger from each other the picture zoomed in on the small lettering. It read in basic, “My dearest Ben, I will forever cherish our time together, I deciphered the faded name for you.” Followed by something else in the margin. He slid his finger to the left exposing the last inscription. It simply read “Qui Gon Gin”.

As the days drifted by on Tatooine, Luke found himself watching the skies and dreaming more and more, of one day escaping this place and seeking out a life for himself, where he wasn’t sure, but he knew it would be somewhere… far, far away…

**ENDING** Not everyone, however were as fortunate as to be free. A nearly imperceptible little creature slowly made its rounds for food among a tangled mess of roots and prehistoric looking plants and trees. The humid and watery swamp surface had always been inhospitable to one with such a meek stature. The tiny alien resident however was becoming accustomed to the difficult terrain as of late. Upon first landing on this world, he was disheartened to find all of the indigenous plant life and creatures inhabiting her larger and better suited for such a gloomy and untamed place than he. But he reminded himself from time to time, that it had been his friend, Qui Gon, who had suggested this location, in case of disaster on the planet Coruscant, shortly before he was murdered in combat by a Sith apprentice. The fact that his fallen friend had been avenged within minutes of his death; by his own student padiwaan did little to console his broken heart. As a longtime student of the force, he understood loss. Very few individuals shared his particular viewpoint due mostly to the fact that he had been observing life in all its complexity for close to nine hundred years. That alone put him within a very small fraternity. But he was especially fond of the reptilian vertebrates that wandered into his camp from time to time. They had offered some form of companionship since he had arrived in his self-inflicted exile. A lesser being of weaker character might have gone mad from the years of total isolation but he knew that in the force, one is never truly alone. Instead he chose to look at his time away in solitude with contentment, offering him time for reflection and to commune with the force in private seclusion. He had learned from his master long, long ago not to waste any opportunity. So it would be for the last seventeen years since saying goodbye to his friend Chewbacca on the world of Kashyyyk and climbed into the small transport pod that had delivered him to this place.  
Yoda had spent many years as the senior Grand Master of the Jedi order and Chairman of the High Council. And yet he maintained a certain humility and self-sacrificing spirit that endeared him to everyone who knew him. He not only busied himself with the office he held and all of its responsibilities but also took time to instruct the younglings. He treated all beings with kindness and empathy while remaining somewhat detached from personal endeavors. His reputation as a master dualist and warrior was matched only by his gentleness and wisdom. He hadn’t needed to earn anyone’s respect, and yet he did at every opportunity.  
He positioned himself on a cold, lonely stone, half embedded into the mud and muck that engulfed the entirety of his surroundings. He sat, still and at peace, concentrating on his reflection in the water below him. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the air around him, the chirping and clicking of the insects and sleek flying creatures gliding overhead in the mist. Then his mind began eliminating each sound until only the air, slowly inhaled and then exhaled within his nostrils remained. He concentrated further and it ceased as well. Now only the rhythmic beating of the dual hearts within his chest filled his ears until that also dissipated leaving only the stillness. Then he felt something, something familiar and yet foreign creeping toward him. He reached out with the force to meet it. It poured into the light and mixed with it like smoke entering a room and began devouring it. Yoda’s eyes opened, only to find himself alone in the dark. The small torch of wood and cloth stuck into the ground next to him had been extinguished. His body was gripped by the cold and he shivered.  
Previous to his journey into hiding, the Jedi master had spoken at length with Qui Gon about the disturbing visions that the younger Jedi had been having. He was able to piece together feelings of sadness and remorse along with regret, fear and pain. “Always pain, is the future” He explained to his friend. “Very difficult to see, the future is”. He added before going deeper. “From all living things, does the force include. But emotion, only sentient beings, possess” “Bind the galaxy together, it does. Yet apart and separated are we, by this crude matter”. Indicating his physical body. He went on “Solid we appear, yet made more of space, our physical universe is”. “The force flows through the Jedi, and the Jedi, through the force”. He went on to speak at length on many subjects including the Jedi orders future, during which Qui Gon confided in his master, the coordinates to a planet far removed from the navigation charts used by travelers and merchants. There existed, no record of the small planet except in the tales of pirates long dead now. “It was known as Dagobah”. He insisted. “A planet strong with the dark side, enveloped in darkness. A cosmic conduit of power, both good and evil.” No Cities or civilization occupied its surface, only the untamed and uncultivated vegetation and wildlife made it their home”. Yoda thought long on his friend’s council before deciding on the planet as a suitable place to conceal his presence from their enemies, should the need ever arrive. In the wake, however of Qui Gon’s demise, it was to Yoda alone that the location belonged and would remain until time to communicate with Obi Wan finally became evident. Unfortunately it was unknown who that enemy would turn out to be. Only speculation and gossip had anyone had up until that point. Still, the identity of the Sith master had eluded them, leaving them utterly helpless as they waited for him to reveal himself. It was a waiting game with uncertainty, the only guarantee. “But came, the future did and from right in front of us all, the Sith materialized”. Yoda lamented. “Too late it was, when all was made visible. Lost, was nearly everything, until born, the child of Skywalker was”. It was in this infant that Yoda built his faith. And with faith came… a new hope….  
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I would like to dedicate my first book to my wife, Danyell Devich my best friend and co-author. David Elliott Devich 1-11-18


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